Effects of Springing Forward to Daylight Saving Time

Most of us are looking forward to spring, especially with the long winter many of us have endured. A sure sign that spring is just around the corner is the beginning of daylight saving time. Today the majority of our country observes DST, which will end on Nov. 6. It is regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation and has the effect of creating more sunlight in the evening hours during the months when the weather is the warmest.

Daylight saving time was designed to save electricity and energy resources, according to energy.ca/gov/daylightsavingtime although many challenge this reasoning, stating that in general energy use and demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and when we get up.

Studies done in the 1970s by the USDOT show that we trim the entire country's electricity usage by 1 percent with DST. We may use a bit more electricity in the morning because it's darker when we get up, but that is usually offset by the energy savings in the evening. We also use less electricity during the longer days of spring and summer because we're home less hours for the most part during those longer days.

A poll done by the USDOT indicated that most Americans liked DST because the evenings are lighter longer so we can do more outdoor activities for a longer period of time.

While the amount of electricity saved per household may be small, added up it can become large. With the skyrocketing gas prices we are all forced to pay at the pump today, even small energy savings are significant. In the face of global warming, we know that reducing the use of our natural energy resources reduces our greenhouse emissions, thus easing global warming. Some argue that because of the global warming alone, we should have DST year around.

Opposition to DST claim that the offset of DST is the energy used by those living in warmer climates have to cool their homes longer during the summer afternoon and evening hours. Another argument is that more evening light hours encourage people to run errands later, thus consuming more gasoline. DST has also been a sore spot for some farmers' schedules, who wake up at dawn.

Opponents to DST also try to make the point that it disrupts ones sleeping habits and could have concerns on our health because the change is a bit of a jolt to the body and mind. This factor was considered to be pretty negligible though as a professor of health promotions at WSU pointed out, stating that most of us are far more resilient than that.

While daylight saving time is always a controversial issue each year, most of the world, except for a few countries around the equator, have implemented it at one point or another. In a study available on www.physorg.com/news/studyextendingDST the decrease in evening electricity demand and the increase in morning demand are said to be almost perfectly balanced out, therefore any statistically usage difference is negligible.