Forecasting Kitsap

Spring Forward for Daylight Savings: But What’s the Point?

March 13th, 2010 by Matthew Leach

I have mixed feelings about Daylight Savings (I realize technically there’s no “s” at the end of “Savings”, but I think it sounds better ), and I always ask myself: what is the point? After doing a bit of research, it certainly appears many others ask the same thing. Its benefits?

More time for outdoor activities
Saves electricity as light extends well into the evening hours
Some studies have shown crime rates are lower during Daylight Savings

Its drawbacks?

The complexity of it all, including remembering to set the clocks back and forward
We lose an hour of sleep. I mean let’s be real here: it still gets darker earlier in the winter and later in the summer no matter what, so why mess with the clocks?
Just when it started to get brighter earlier, now it’s going to get dark again
It’s not mandatory, so not everybody observes it! Take a look at this DST map (blue indicates DST is observed, orange indicates DST is no longer observed, and red indicates DST was never used)

As you can see, Arizona and Hawaii are the onl states in the U.S. that have found DST rather useless. About 95% of Africa isn’t on DST, including my new home (for 2 years) South Africa. A great deal of North America and Europe, however, have found DST worthy of continuing.

So, don’t forget to spring your clocks forward! But I’d like to know: what are your thoughts on Daylight Savings? Is it worth it? Are Arizona and Hawaii doing the right thing by not messing with the clock? You decide.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Matthew Leach

Forecasting Kitsap

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: forecastingkitsap@live.com

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 7:19 pm by Matthew Leach and is filed under This Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.