Why is there daylight saving time?
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(CNN) -
Changing clocks twice a year (in winter and summer time) is aimed at saving energy, but there is a growing consensus that this change, which will occur on November 1 in the United States, has a cost in human lives.
Changes disrupt our sleep schedules and harm our health, according to experts from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).
And in August, more than a century after daylight saving time was introduced, the AASM published a position statement calling for it to be canceled entirely.
"We have had evidence that has been slowly accumulating over the years, in terms of the adverse effects when we go from daylight saving time to standard time, and vice versa," said Dr. Kannan Ramar, president of the AASM, specialist in sleep medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
Those impacts are varied and include bad news for cardiovascular health;
stroke and atrial fibrillation;
medication errors;
mental health;
and traffic accidents.
The effect on health is significant.
Total mortality increased 3% in Vienna during the week after the transition from spring to daylight saving time, according to a recent study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health that analyzed data from 1970 to 2018.
"It's like filling a cup with water," Ramar said, explaining the timing of the AASM call to end daylight saving time now.
“The cup is filled with water as the evidence continues to accumulate.
At a certain point, it tends to overflow. '
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What happens when we change the clocks?
"From a sleep science perspective, (changing clocks) doesn't make any sense," agreed dr.
Rafael Pelayo, a sleep specialist at the Stanford Center for Sleep Medicine.
"Biologically it doesn't make any sense."
That's because it takes days for our bodies to adjust to a disturbed sleep schedule.
"Even though you only sleep an hour less, it takes about five days to get back in sync," Pelayo said.
And this exacerbates an existing problem: Many people already lose the sleep necessary for good health.
One in three Americans does not get enough sleep on a regular basis, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
(It's even worse for some people of color: More than 45% of black people reported short duration of sleep in the CDC study.)
Not sleeping much goes beyond dark circles.
Lack of sleep is linked to type II diabetes, heart attacks, asthma, and depression.
Lack of sleep can even shrink your brain.
In 2016, the CDC declared the sleep problem a public health epidemic.
Given how important it is to get a good night's sleep, doctors say you shouldn't wait for the government to take care of daylight saving time;
There are many things you can do to promote good sleep on your own.
As the next change approaches, Ramar from the AASM suggested starting your activities early to ease the transition.
"You know it's coming," he said.
"A few days to a week before that it will help to slowly shift your schedule to that time frame."
Additionally, Ramar said the transition is a good opportunity to control your overall sleep routine, which includes avoiding digital devices at night and limiting caffeine intake in the afternoon.
"Following regular sleep hygiene measures during and around these jet lag changes would mitigate some of the adverse effects," he said.
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Aligning with the circadian rhythm
There is a broad consensus among scientists that changing clocks twice a year is a bad idea.
If sleep is so important, how do we end this variable schedule?
A bit of history: During World War I, countries like Germany, Britain, and the United States introduced daylight saving time in an effort to conserve energy.
By setting the clocks forward, according to theory, you can wait another hour before turning on the light on a summer night.
A century later, almost a quarter of the world's population advances their clocks for part of the year.
This works a bit.
There is an average electricity savings of 0.34% during summer time, according to a 2017 international meta-analytic study.
But the harm of changing clocks outweighs the benefits of saving energy, scientists say.
And while much of the United States spends nearly eight months of the year in daylight saving time, AASM scientists believe that standard time is better for our sleep.
"It's to align with our circadian rhythm cycle," said AASM's Ramar.
“In the summer time, it is still dark in the morning and there is a lot of light at night.
In fact, the opposite should be happening.
Instead, it is better to wake up the brain with a dose of morning sunlight and then relax in the last hours.
The mismatch contributes to the circadian mismatch, Ramar said, which correlates with a variety of physical and psychological disorders, including cancer and depression.
But standard time is not unique to everyone.
If you tend to sleep late, you will miss the morning sunlight that standard time provides.
That means night owls might have less overall exposure to natural light.
The position within your time zone is also important.
On December 21, the shortest day in 2020, sunset will be at 5:24 pm in Indianapolis.
In Portland, Maine, on the eastern edge of the same time zone, the sun will set at 4:07 pm that day.
"A lot of people prefer daylight saving time at the eastern end of the time zones, mainly because it gets dark so early in the winter," said Scott Yates, a Denver activist who for years has lobbied for the end of dual calendar time.
The AASM has called for a permanent national transition to standard time, and Ramar highlighted the simplicity of a single system.
Citing variations in location, lifestyle and preferences, Yates favors letting each state decide whether year-round standard time or daylight savings time is better.
Although the AASM prefers standard time, either is likely an improvement over the biennial reset.
This is because while experts say that standard time is optimal for circadian rhythms, it appears to be the change, not the total clock time, that makes the biggest difference.
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What if you never have to change the clock again?
Using the hashtag #locktheclock, Yates has lobbied in favor of eliminating time changes in the United States.
And right now, the country has a mosaic of laws that weigh on the issue.
United States federal law allows states to opt out of daylight saving time in favor of standard time throughout the year.
Hawaii and most of Arizona have done just that, choosing standard time throughout the year.
The territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands also do not use daylight saving time.
States that would prefer year-round summer time are mostly out of luck;
US federal law does not allow it.
Dozens of states have proposed making daylight saving time the year-round option in case federal laws change.
There are some signs that it could happen.
At a time of deepening political divisions, the issue appears to have bipartisan support.
In March, President Donald Trump signaled that he would be in favor of ending the time change, tweeting: "I think it's good that daylight saving time is permanent!"
The Sun Protection Act of 2019, which was introduced last year by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, has Democratic co-sponsors from the state of Washington, Alabama and Rhode Island.
It may not be in time for the "backtracking" time change on November 1 of this year in the United States.
(The UK falls back on the last Sunday in October.)
If the legislation is passed in the United States, daylight saving time would be the new default for the United States, the opposite of the recent AASM proposal.
Still, it would prevent Americans from going through the semi-annual clock change that seems to cause most health disorders.
"There is no good reason to change clocks twice a year," said Yates, who supports and has advised on the federal bill.
"Now that we know you are killing people, it is time to act."
- Jen Rose Smith is a writer living in Vermont. Find her work at jenrosesmith.com, or follow her on Twitter @jenrosesmithvt.