Daylight Saving: The One Thing Americans Love To Hate Might Become A “Permanent” Reality
Why I believe Permanent Daylight Saving is not the answer, and may actually do more harm than good.
Daylight saving appears to be innocuous.
So much so, that you wouldn’t necessarily expect it to inspire so much ire… and from so many people?!
The debate has been been reignited though, after the U.S. Senate voted unanimously (omg, but they never agree on anything) to make Daylight Saving permanent starting from 2023 and onwards from there.
What the Senate didn’t expect, however, is just how unpopular the new bipartisan bill would be — inspiring both critique and fury.
And the reaction may be justified.
This isn’t the first time that U.S. politicians decided to experiment with Permanent Daylight Saving.
They tried it before and the experiment failed with most Americans invariably hating it.
1970s Permanent Daylight Saving Was Motivated By An Energy Crisis
In the early 1970s, the U.S. was facing an energy crisis — similar to the one we have today.
To reduce energy demands, the government embarked on a 2 year experiment where they made Daylight Saving permanent.
The idea was that more hours of sunshine in the evening would equate to fewer switched-on lights, reducing the nation’s energy bill.
Needless to say this was not a very clever idea…
The energy saved in the late afternoons and evenings was being consumed in the mornings — mornings that were no longer bright and sunny.
Children started attending schools with torchlights in hand, and while it’s true that there were fewer car accidents in the evenings, morning accidents significantly climbed up.
In summary, the presumed electricity savings turned out to be unclear or nonexistent.
You’re effectively trading sunlight hours in the early morning for sunlight hours in the evening. That’s Not Good.
While this may seem to be an appealing proposition to many of us who want to enjoy more hours in the sun after work or school, personally… I’m not that convinced it would be completely harmless to our collective health.
Early Morning Sunlight Has It’s Particular Benefits, Unique To It
Ever tried driving to work in the early morning with and without your sunglasses on?
Well… I have, and I feel genuinely more awake and alert at work if I had made the drive without my sunglasses, as opposed to having had them on.
There is actually a perfectly good explanation for this.
The specific wavelength composition of early morning light drives down your body’s secretion of melatonin and plays an important role in regulating circadian rhythms — waking you up in the morning, keeping you active during the day, and more sleepy closer to your bedtime.
There is also ample evidence that exposure to early morning sun (as opposed to the late afternoon or evening) improves mood and wards off depression, partly by increasing Vitamin D production in the skin dermis.
Ever heard of or experienced the “winter blues?” How would you feel about it being that way all-year-round?
In my opinion, sacrificing early morning sun for more hours of sunshine later in the day is NOT the “no-brainer” so many people make it out to be, as has been suggested by countless politicians, journalists and experts from the scientific community.
To be clear, I don’t mean to discredit these experts who suggest that year-long Daylight Saving may have some health benefits.
In truth, it probably does… BUT COMPARED TO our current system where we change the clocks twice a year.
Our current system is believed to result in a significant increase in accidents, heart attacks and even low mood and suicidal thoughts for at least 2-4 weeks after the change.
We clearly have a problem we need to solve.
Permanent Daylight Saving, however, doesn’t strike me as the solution.
Now I’d like to know what your ideas are. I’m sure they’re probably better than the weird concoctions U.S. politicians come up with.
Tell me in the comments below!
My name is Hesham Mashhour and I’m a medical doctor and University of Cambridge graduate. I love all things health and also educating people about the human brain, what they can do with it and how they can get the most out of it. I primarily do this through my YouTube channel, Neuron Theory.
I totally agree - I can't find anything beneficial in Daylight Saving Time