About 70 countries around the world adopt what is known as daylight saving time, and every year they change their official time by advancing or delaying it by an hour, to obtain longer daylight hours, or in a simpler sense to allow people to go out at the end of the day while the weather is still day, while giving less opportunity to sleep at night. .
But why do some countries apply daylight savings time?
And when does it start?
Does it have positive or negative effects?
And which country started to adopt it?
What is daylight saving time in 2023?
This year, DST extends between March and November, as some parts of the United States and Canada adopted its start from March 12 to November 5, while countries in the Middle East such as Egypt announced a different time period.
As the Council of Ministers in Egypt announced the return of daylight savings time by 60 minutes, after 7 years of stopping, to start from the last Friday of April 2023, until the end of the last Thursday of October 2023.
Moving the clock forward by 60 minutes means an additional hour of daylight (Pixaby)
What are the benefits of changing the clock to daylight saving time?
Changing the time by one hour can do many things, such as:
Low energy consumption:
because moving the clock forward by 60 minutes means an additional hour of daylight, which reduces the need for electric lighting and reduces energy consumption, especially for lighting and heating, which means saving some expenses and material costs.
This idea was put forward before it was actually applied and even before the industrial revolution and the availability of electric lights, as Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, wrote a satirical letter to a French magazine in 1784 in which he expressed his astonishment at seeing the sunrise at the first hour of six in the morning, long before the appearance of Most Parisians, he said, said that if they were to rise with the sun, the city could save an enormous amount by lighting candles in the dark evening hours.
A 2008 study by the US Department of Energy suggested that every 4 weeks of daylight saving time the country saves about 0.5% of all electricity.
However, these effects may be country-specific. Another study found that it led to a slight decrease in energy use in Norway and Sweden, while a study published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that daylight saving time caused an increase in energy demand and emissions. Pollution in Indiana, USA.
Increased productivity:
Longer daylight hours during daylight saving time can lead to increased productivity in some industries, as workers have more daylight hours to complete their work.
Increasing tourism and buying:
Longer daylight hours in the summer can lead to an increase in tourism, as people have more time to enjoy outdoor activities, and may help increase shopping and purchasing opportunities for some areas that attract their customers more during the day.
What are the disadvantages of changing the clock to daylight saving time?
However, it should be noted that there are also potential drawbacks posed by DST naysayers, including disruption to sleep patterns and negative effects on the agricultural industry. Economic benefits may also vary depending on factors such as geographic location and the specific industry involved.
Effect on sleep:
Some argue that changing the clock may disrupt people's natural sleep-wake cycles, and may lead to fatigue and difficulty concentrating due to lack of sleep, especially for those who already suffer from sleep disorders or difficulty sleeping, as confirmed by a report published by the "National Geographic" magazine. (National Geographic) Scientific.
Impact on the rate of traffic accidents:
Some studies consider that daylight saving time can increase the risks of traffic accidents and workplace injuries, especially the days immediately following the time change, due to disruption of people's sleep patterns and increased sleepiness.
However, this link assumed by some scientists confirmed that the percentage of its effect is small, despite their assumption of its existence.
Health Concerns:
There are some concerns that the time change could worsen some health conditions, such as migraines, depression, and heart disease.
There are potential flaws raised by those who reject daylight savings time, including disturbing sleep patterns (Shutterstock)
Who was the first to adopt daylight saving time?
Germany was the first country to implement daylight saving time in 1916, in a maneuver to maximize production during sunlit hours during World War I, and did not decide to proceed with such a plan until after resources became scarce during the war, and then the United States joined it after two years.
Other countries - including Australia and Britain - adopted daylight saving time during World War I to conserve fuel by reducing the need for artificial light, according to the British Encyclopedia Britannica.
Who applies daylight savings time?
Not all countries in the world observe daylight saving time, although more than 140 countries did at some point in time, and currently less than 40% of the world's countries do.
Even in the United States - which was the second country to implement this system - some states chose not to implement it, such as Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Despite this, 19 states proposed legislation or decisions to adopt permanent daylight saving time, but these laws will only come into force. If approved by Congress.
But most of North America, Europe and New Zealand change the clock every year, as do several Arab countries and the Middle East region, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Morocco, the Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Iran.
While the majority of countries in the African continent and Asia do not change the clock with the daylight saving time system, the countries of South America and Australia are divided on this issue, according to the information of the statistics and market figures website "Statista".
However, Europe's participation may change, as the European Union countries voted in 2019 to end the compulsory daylight savings time, but the matter was not decided because the Union countries were preoccupied with more important files such as Britain's exit from the Union and the Corona pandemic.