Time to ‘spring forward’ again for Daylight Saving Time
Mar 10, 2023, 8:47 AM
A man watches the Sunset from downtown Seattle. (Photo by Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)
After 19 weeks on Pacific Standard Time (PST), we return to Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) starting this Sunday. On March 12, we ‘spring forward’ an hour at 2 a.m.
Do you feel more tired after losing that hour of sleep when shifting to daylight time? You are not alone. Sleep scientists have found more than half of Americans usually feel tired after the adjustment back to daylight time.
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Other studies have found a rise in traffic crashes and more workplace injuries compared to other Mondays following the time change. Even though the circadian rhythm gets disrupted by the changes, the impact fades away in a matter of days.
Overall, nearly two-thirds of Americans want to eliminate the time change altogether, in comparison to the 21% who aren’t sure and the 16% who would like to keep moving their clocks back and forth, according to the newest survey from The Economist.
The Washington state legislature authorized keeping the state on daylight time year-round alongside Oregon and California. However, only the U.S. Congress can approve one or more states to stay either permanently in daylight or standard time, like Arizona or Hawaii.
Five U.S. territories — American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands — also observe permanent standard time.
Congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918 during WWI under President Woodrow Wilson as a measure to save on fuel costs with the additional hour of sunlight created, according to the Library of Congress. Known as a wartime clock adjustment, only Daylight Saving Time was repealed despite Wilson’s pleas to retain it, and only resurfaced during the years of direct U.S. involvement in WWII.
The Standard Time Act of 1918 also created the five standard time zones that are still in use today: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaskan zones.
After two decades of states deciding internally whether to adopt daylight savings time or not following WWII, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was passed, mandating a standard time while also establishing a system of uniform Daylight Saving Time nationwide.
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Fire agencies and the National Weather Service also want to remind residents that the time change is also a good time to change the batteries in smoke and carbon dioxide detectors and any NOAA Weather Radios. Too many fatal fire tragedies occur because the smoke detector had a dead battery. All-hazard NOAA Weather Radios come in handy for providing warning information when the power goes out.
So this Saturday night, remember to move your clocks ahead one hour. Your cell phones and computers should make the time change themselves.
