Daylight saving time is now upon us after more than four months on standard time. The Switch to DST occurred at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9.
DST was adapted in 1918 for the purpose to conserve energy during World War I.
All of the smartphones and other devices automatically change time, which never ceases to amaze me.
We lose one hour of sleep, which some say will disturb our health pattern. Standard time is aligned with our body clock. That is why when we lose one hour of sleep it can disturb our body clock, which can be harmful to our health.
Parents and kids have a hard time adjusting to the DST time, because it’s hard for the kids to change their routines and those of us who have gone through this adjustment can understand the difficulty in coping with this situation.
Hawaii and most of Arizona don’t observe DST, and U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands observe permanent standard time only.
I for one like DST because of the longer days of daylight, which has been proven to help a person’s psychological senses.
In the mid-1970s the U.S. had year-round DST, but that quickly became unpopular and was reversed back to standard time and DST.
Some religious groups have opposed DST on religious grounds. For religious Muslims and Jews, it makes religious practices such as prayer and fasting more difficult.
DST helps businesses, because people can go shopping in the daylight and feel safer in doing so.
Spring forward to spring and enjoy all the longer and warmer days.
Lois Eisenberg
Valencia
