Why?
This is the question I hear tens of times every single day. My wonderful three
year old wants to know why about everything. Why does it snow? Why does it
melt? Why do clouds move? Why does the moon change shape (full to half and
such)? Why does she have to go to bed at 10 PM? Why does she have to take a
bath? You get the idea. Why do we have to move the clocks up an hour tonight? I
have reasonable answer for that one. I can explain the water cycle, the need
for sleep and bathing, even the phases of the moon, but why do we lose an hour
of sleep on this night, no clue. There are 3 myths out there I want to address:
1. It likely does not save energy.Yes I know the explanation that it saves energy, but I don’t buy it. In a 2014 study published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, they report that not only does Daylight Savings Time not save energy; it may well even increase energy usage as a whole. A study in Indiana actually found a slight increase in energy use after the entire state adopted DST (for years, only some counties followed it), costing the state’s residents about $9 million; the researchers believed that more air conditioning in the evening was largely to blame. That’s a far cry from the $7 million that Indiana state representatives had hoped residents would save in electricity costs.
2. It does not help farmers. In fact, farmers fought against this for years. “Farmers wanted it because it extends hours of working in the field,” Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn offered after filing a bill that would abolish DST. Even Michael Downing, who wrote a book about DST, has said that before researching the subject, “I always thought we did it for the farmers.” In fact, the inverse is true. Traditionally farmers were dead set against it. The lost hour of morning light meant they had to rush to get their crops to market. Dairy farmers were particularly upset: Cows adjust to schedule shifts rather poorly, apparently.
3. The extra hour of light in the evening does not make us happier. Rather, there are some rather disturbing statistics that point the other direction. There are increases in heart attacks and upticks in criminal behavior following the change each year. A study out of the University of Colorado in October, titled “Spring Forward at Your Own Risk,” suggested a strong association between the reduced sleep and reallocated daylight of DST and fatal car accidents. “The increased risk persists for the first six days of DST,” the author states, “causing a total of 302 deaths at a social cost of $2.75 billion over the 10-year sample period.” Experts have warned about spikes in workplace accidents, suicide and headaches — just to name a few health risks — when DST starts and ends. One 2009 study of mine workers found a 5.7 percent increase in injuries in the week after the start of DST, which researchers thought was most likely due to disruption in the workers’ sleep cycles. An examination of Australian data found a slight uptick in male suicides in the weeks following time shifts, to the effect of half an excess death per day, which the researchers blamed on the destabilizing effect of sleep disruption on people with mental health problems.
On a more practical level it is just annoying. Do you agree?
1. It likely does not save energy.Yes I know the explanation that it saves energy, but I don’t buy it. In a 2014 study published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, they report that not only does Daylight Savings Time not save energy; it may well even increase energy usage as a whole. A study in Indiana actually found a slight increase in energy use after the entire state adopted DST (for years, only some counties followed it), costing the state’s residents about $9 million; the researchers believed that more air conditioning in the evening was largely to blame. That’s a far cry from the $7 million that Indiana state representatives had hoped residents would save in electricity costs.
2. It does not help farmers. In fact, farmers fought against this for years. “Farmers wanted it because it extends hours of working in the field,” Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn offered after filing a bill that would abolish DST. Even Michael Downing, who wrote a book about DST, has said that before researching the subject, “I always thought we did it for the farmers.” In fact, the inverse is true. Traditionally farmers were dead set against it. The lost hour of morning light meant they had to rush to get their crops to market. Dairy farmers were particularly upset: Cows adjust to schedule shifts rather poorly, apparently.
3. The extra hour of light in the evening does not make us happier. Rather, there are some rather disturbing statistics that point the other direction. There are increases in heart attacks and upticks in criminal behavior following the change each year. A study out of the University of Colorado in October, titled “Spring Forward at Your Own Risk,” suggested a strong association between the reduced sleep and reallocated daylight of DST and fatal car accidents. “The increased risk persists for the first six days of DST,” the author states, “causing a total of 302 deaths at a social cost of $2.75 billion over the 10-year sample period.” Experts have warned about spikes in workplace accidents, suicide and headaches — just to name a few health risks — when DST starts and ends. One 2009 study of mine workers found a 5.7 percent increase in injuries in the week after the start of DST, which researchers thought was most likely due to disruption in the workers’ sleep cycles. An examination of Australian data found a slight uptick in male suicides in the weeks following time shifts, to the effect of half an excess death per day, which the researchers blamed on the destabilizing effect of sleep disruption on people with mental health problems.
On a more practical level it is just annoying. Do you agree?
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