As the US adjusts to daylight saving time, these are the countries that change and those that don’t

By James On Mar 14, 2023

Timeless Consistency: As the US Adjusts to Daylight Saving Time, These Are the Countries NOT Changing Their Clocks

Daylight saving time occurred at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday in most of the US.
Changing the clock twice a year has been a controversial practice, as various legislators try to stop the change.

By Vanessa Serna for Dailymail.Com

Published: 18:18 GMT, March 14, 2023 | Updated: 20:34 GMT, March 14, 2023

It’s as controversial as its supporters say it needs to be, but like clockwork, daylight saving time causes hundreds of millions of Americans to wake up groggy on a Sunday in March.

While some enjoy catching up on more daylight later in the day, others resent losing an hour of sleep.

In fact, while the US has practiced Daylight Saving Time more or less consistently since 1918, less than 40 percent of the world’s countries still do.

Aside from Hawaii and Arizona, the rest of the US has consistently practiced daylight saving time.

Despite the tradition, several residents and legislators have opposed the time change and have consistently advocated stopping the tradition.

Daylight saving time occurred at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday for most of the US.

About 40 percent of countries continue to observe daylight saving time, and at one point about 140 countries practiced changing clocks.

A bipartisan group of US senators introduced a bill on Thursday to make daylight saving time permanent after voting unanimously last year to end the practice, according to Reuters.

The bill failed in the US House of Representatives because lawmakers couldn’t decide whether to keep standard time, also known as winter time, or daylight saving time.

Canada, Paraguay, Cuba, Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, the Levant and areas of Australia also follow the practice of changing the clocks twice a year, according to Statista.

Meanwhile, Mexico decided to suspend daylight saving time this year and move forward with the permanent implementation of winter time, while Baja California moved its clocks forward permanently.

The European Union also changes clocks twice a year, but at a later date than the US. Daylight Saving Time will begin in the EU on March 26.

Changing the clock twice a year has been a controversial practice in the US as various legislators try to stop the change.

Most of Africa has never practiced daylight saving time or has done so before, but Egypt is one of the few countries on the continent to start practicing daylight saving time to save energy, according to Statista.

Meanwhile, most of Asia has abandoned the practice of changing clocks despite observing the change once twice a year.

As for South America, almost all countries, apart from Chile and Paraguay, do not change clocks.

Daylight Saving Time: An American ritual since 1918 that has sparked a furious debate across the country

What is summer time?

Daylight saving time is the process of turning clocks back one hour during the spring so that daylight lasts longer during the day, while the sunrise hours are reduced later.

It is generally believed that the origins of Daylight Saving Time can be traced back to the ideas of William Willett, an English builder who proposed the modern concept of Daylight Saving Time in 1907 as a way to enjoy extra daylight in the winter months. summer and save money.

Willett lobbied heavily in the British Parliament but ironically died shortly before its adoption by Germany, the United Kingdom, and many other European countries in 1916 and elsewhere in the years that followed.

What states do not participate in daylight saving time?

Although most of the United States observes Daylight Saving Time, it is not practiced in Arizona (except on Navajo tribal lands), Hawaii, and the US territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands States and the Northern Mariana Islands. Islands.

What year did Daylight Saving Time begin in the US?

Daylight saving time was adopted in the United States in 1918, but was repealed in 1919 due to the end of World War I and its widespread unpopularity with the American public, although states and cities had the option of observing it if they wished. .

President Franklin Roosevelt reinstated daylight saving time from February 9, 1942, to September 30, 1945.

Due to the confusion of some states and cities that continued to observe daylight saving time in subsequent years, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act of 1966 to establish uniform daylight saving time in each time zone, exempting states that chose to stay on standard time. Since then, it has been observed by most of the states in the country.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Daylight Saving Time

Daylight saving time advocates say adding an extra hour of evening sun encourages people to get out of the house and do something active, which helps with health and fitness levels, as well as increasing vitamin intake D as less artificial light is needed. This also saves on energy costs.

However, studies have found that in modern society, energy costs actually tend to rise due to prolonged use of air conditioning units and computers.

But the biggest argument against daylight saving time is that it disrupts our body clocks or circadian rhythm, which can be dangerous in some cases. Heart attack risk increases when daylight saving time begins, while an extra hour of darkness has also been linked to depression.