Daylight Savings: One Hour That Could Change Your Life

I doubt anyone feels well rested after losing an hour of sleep as we switch to Daylight Savings Time. But, climate change alarmists love it because that lost hour gives you more daylight to deal with in your daily lives, resulting in a reduction of lights-on power consumption.  At least that was the intent when Thunder Bay, Canada first introduced it in 1908.  Then, in 1916, Germany became the first country to introduce this clock-change on a national basis.  The U.S. introduced it in 1918.  Today, 70 countries practice this regimen of losing, then gaining one hour, twice a year.

However, there is a dark side to Daylight Savings.  That is a disruption of natural sleep patterns.  On the Monday following that one hour of sleep deprivation, there are more traffic accidents.  Students don't perform as well, and, I assume adults don't do as well at their jobs either; possibly resulting in an increase in work-related accidents.  No clear statistics are available on that. However, a 2014 study of Michigan Hospitals found a 25% increase in heart attacks the Monday following the "Spring-Forward" tradition.  Some suggest that depression, as well, results from the loss of sleep for those a little closer to the "edge".  All this for a savings of just 1/2 of 1 percent of energy per day; according to a report from Duke Energy.

Maybe we, and the other 69 countries that practice this annual tradition, should rethink the value of gaining an hour of daylight at the cost of losing that hour of sleep.

Lastly, I should mention that battery manufacturers love it. Americans, are urged to replace the batteries in our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors at this time.  Even if those batteries have another 2 years or more of life in them.  How many tons of toxic batteries are tossed into landfills each year due to Daylight Savings Time?  How about that, you climate change environmentalists!

References:

The History of Daylight Savings Time: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html

Daylight saving time change impacts schools, ERs and roadways: http://www.denverpost.com/2015/03/05/daylight-saving-time-change-impacts-schools-ers-and-roadways/

Daylight saving time may be killing you: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daylight-saving-time-may-be-killing-you/article/2617030