The Great recession. Our vitamin D deficiency. The obesity epidemic. all are cited in the surprisingly fiery debate over daylight saving time. when did the clock get so controversial?
If you went about your morning blissfully unaware that daylight saving time ended Saturday night, don't worry. You're not alone. The world seems to be increasingly vexed by the practice.
From Britain to Japan to Saskatchewan, debates over daylight saving time have gotten fiery. And no longer is the conversation centred around an extra hour of sleep-in time. Economic growth, mental health and even obesity are figuring into the debate.
How did something as simple as making summer evenings a little longer come to this? Blame the U.S. government, for starters. In 2007, the U.S. adjusted the dates of daylight saving time to extend longer into the fall in an effort to save energy by staving off darkness for a little while longer. Canada followed suit (hence Calgary's bright Halloweens of late), which seemed to kick off a renewed debate about the issue.
Japan, which ditched daylight saving time as soon as Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the American occupation left Tokyo in 1951, is now mulling it again. John Alkire of Morgan Stanley believes that adopting daylight saving time would mean a new dawn for the Japanese economy. One extra hour of sunlight every evening for seven months would boost domestic consumption, as people leave work for bars, restaurants, shopping and golf. Setting the clock ahead one hour in the summer is credited with reducing traffic accidents and crime; boosting energy efficiency as people use less lighting and heating; and even improving health as people are radiated with vitamin D from the sun.
"The best part is that it doesn't cost anything," says Alkire. "It's a real fiscal stimulus without any money."
Adopting daylight saving time would increase Japan's GDP by more than $15 billion US annually, according to the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute. The Japan Productivity Center, another research outfit, reckons it could generate 100,000 jobs.
Public approval for DST is growing, from 40 per cent in the 1990s to around 60 per cent today. Heizo Takenaka, a former cabinet minister, says it nearly passed in 2005, but fell victim to bureaucratic infighting.
Sound familiar? Our neighbours in Saskatchewan have been having a similar debate for decades. Saskatchewan is one of the few northern jurisdictions in the world that does not observe daylight saving time. In 2007, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall suggested it was time his province vote on the question, but that has yet to happen.
That doesn't mean the debate has gone away. A Facebook group called Lets Get Daylight Savings Time for Saskatchewan has gathered nearly 250 fans, and a raging debate. Scott Giroux, who is one of the operators of the Facebook site, has a handful of reasons to support daylight saving time, including his inability to squeeze in 18 holes of golf after work before it gets dark.
"It seems pretty clear that our society is moving more toward increasing obesity by the day. If physical activity will increase with (daylight saving time), I think it's a no-brainer," he says.
From Britain to Japan to Saskatchewan, debates over daylight saving time have gotten fiery. And no longer is the conversation centred around an extra hour of sleep-in time. Economic growth, mental health and even obesity are figuring into the debate.
How did something as simple as making summer evenings a little longer come to this? Blame the U.S. government, for starters. In 2007, the U.S. adjusted the dates of daylight saving time to extend longer into the fall in an effort to save energy by staving off darkness for a little while longer. Canada followed suit (hence Calgary's bright Halloweens of late), which seemed to kick off a renewed debate about the issue.
Japan, which ditched daylight saving time as soon as Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the American occupation left Tokyo in 1951, is now mulling it again. John Alkire of Morgan Stanley believes that adopting daylight saving time would mean a new dawn for the Japanese economy. One extra hour of sunlight every evening for seven months would boost domestic consumption, as people leave work for bars, restaurants, shopping and golf. Setting the clock ahead one hour in the summer is credited with reducing traffic accidents and crime; boosting energy efficiency as people use less lighting and heating; and even improving health as people are radiated with vitamin D from the sun.
"The best part is that it doesn't cost anything," says Alkire. "It's a real fiscal stimulus without any money."
Adopting daylight saving time would increase Japan's GDP by more than $15 billion US annually, according to the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute. The Japan Productivity Center, another research outfit, reckons it could generate 100,000 jobs.
Public approval for DST is growing, from 40 per cent in the 1990s to around 60 per cent today. Heizo Takenaka, a former cabinet minister, says it nearly passed in 2005, but fell victim to bureaucratic infighting.
Sound familiar? Our neighbours in Saskatchewan have been having a similar debate for decades. Saskatchewan is one of the few northern jurisdictions in the world that does not observe daylight saving time. In 2007, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall suggested it was time his province vote on the question, but that has yet to happen.
That doesn't mean the debate has gone away. A Facebook group called Lets Get Daylight Savings Time for Saskatchewan has gathered nearly 250 fans, and a raging debate. Scott Giroux, who is one of the operators of the Facebook site, has a handful of reasons to support daylight saving time, including his inability to squeeze in 18 holes of golf after work before it gets dark.
"It seems pretty clear that our society is moving more toward increasing obesity by the day. If physical activity will increase with (daylight saving time), I think it's a no-brainer," he says.
The advantages to health are also one of the reasons cited by scientists urging governments in Britain and Russia to adopt daylight saving time all year long.
"It must be rare to find a means of vastly improving the health and well-being of nearly everyone in the population -- and at no cost," said Mayer Hillman of the Policy Studies Institute in Britain, where a bill on daylight saving time is coming up for consideration in parliament soon. "And here we have it."
Hillman conducted a study focused on Scotland, the northern-most part of Britain, which found that switching would give most adults 300 extra hours of daylight a year. A "lighter later" campaign in Britain has gained support from many of the country's major sporting bodies.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Hillman said research shows people feel happier, more energetic and have lower sickness rates in the longer, brighter days of summer, whereas moods and health decline during duller days of winter.
Robert Graham of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York said leaving clocks alone in winter could help combat high rates of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity, which are caused in part by lack of exercise.
"As a society we are always looking for accessible, low cost, little-to-no harm interventions," he said. "By not putting the clocks back and increasing the number of accessible daylight hours, we may have found the perfect one."
There is still some question about the real energy savings that comes from extending daylight. A study published earlier this year found that advancing clocks by an hour in the winter would lead to energy savings of at least 0.3 per cent of daily demand in Britain.
That may not sound like much, but Elizabeth Garnsey, one of the study's authors and an expert in innovative studies at Cambridge University, said this was equivalent to saving 450,000 tonnes of CO2 during winter alone.
Among all these big questions, there is still room in the debate for perspective, such as that offered by a user (one suspects he's an Albertan) on the Lets Get Daylight Savings Time for Saskatchewan Facebook site, who suggested one reason the province is out of step with the rest of the country is this: "(Saskatchewanians don't) understand how to change their electronic clocks in their cars and on their stoves and stuff, so they just keep the time the same all through the year."
"It must be rare to find a means of vastly improving the health and well-being of nearly everyone in the population -- and at no cost," said Mayer Hillman of the Policy Studies Institute in Britain, where a bill on daylight saving time is coming up for consideration in parliament soon. "And here we have it."
Hillman conducted a study focused on Scotland, the northern-most part of Britain, which found that switching would give most adults 300 extra hours of daylight a year. A "lighter later" campaign in Britain has gained support from many of the country's major sporting bodies.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Hillman said research shows people feel happier, more energetic and have lower sickness rates in the longer, brighter days of summer, whereas moods and health decline during duller days of winter.
Robert Graham of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York said leaving clocks alone in winter could help combat high rates of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity, which are caused in part by lack of exercise.
"As a society we are always looking for accessible, low cost, little-to-no harm interventions," he said. "By not putting the clocks back and increasing the number of accessible daylight hours, we may have found the perfect one."
There is still some question about the real energy savings that comes from extending daylight. A study published earlier this year found that advancing clocks by an hour in the winter would lead to energy savings of at least 0.3 per cent of daily demand in Britain.
That may not sound like much, but Elizabeth Garnsey, one of the study's authors and an expert in innovative studies at Cambridge University, said this was equivalent to saving 450,000 tonnes of CO2 during winter alone.
Among all these big questions, there is still room in the debate for perspective, such as that offered by a user (one suspects he's an Albertan) on the Lets Get Daylight Savings Time for Saskatchewan Facebook site, who suggested one reason the province is out of step with the rest of the country is this: "(Saskatchewanians don't) understand how to change their electronic clocks in their cars and on their stoves and stuff, so they just keep the time the same all through the year."
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