Daylight saving time is fast approaching, which means it’s almost time to set your clocks an hour ahead on Sunday morning and prepare for longer days.
Daylight saving time officially begins Sunday, or the second Sunday in March — as it’s done every year since 2007 — and will end on the first Sunday in November.
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Technically, daylight savings time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, effectively making it 3 a.m. — so if you go to bed Saturday night before 2 a.m. on Sunday, be sure to set your clock ahead one hour, aka “spring forward.”
While daylight saving time was designed to help extend the amount of time the sun is up, resulting in longer, brighter days, it does mean you’ll lose an hour of sleep in between Saturday and Sunday.
Although it’s a century-old idea, the policy wasn’t introduced until Germany implemented it during World War I, thinking more daylight hours might help conserve energy. Soon after, other European countries and the United States adopted it as well. The practice fizzled out after the war until it was implemented again in World War II to save fuel and resources.
At first, individual states observed daylight saving time without any standardization — until Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966. In 2007, the schedule was updated when we received an extra four weeks of daylight saving time thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Today, 48 states recognize daylight saving time, with Hawaii and most of Arizona the exceptions. U.S. Territories like Puerto Rico and Guam also do not recognize the time change, with the logic being their sunlight hours are long enough already.
It’s possible that more states will join Hawaii and Arizona in opting out of the Uniform Time Act. A new bill introduced in California would make summertime saving time the norm year-round, instead of reverting back to daylight standard time in the fall. If passed, the Golden State could lead the nation’s fight to abolish winter’s standard time.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that at least 28 other states have some form of legislation seeking to do the same. Just this week, Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott as well as Rep. Vern Buchanan reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which wants to implement daylight saving time all year.
Photo credit: SEBASTIAN KAHNERT / Contributor / Getty
