Mexico eliminates summer time: what are the reasons and when does the new law come into force?

This is what Mexicans think about eliminating summer time 1:19

(CNN Spanish) --

Next Sunday, October 30, will be the last time that Mexicans adjust their clocks since the Senate approved this Wednesday the elimination of daylight saving time, a measure that involves advancing the clock one hour every early April and push it back to the end of October every year.

With 59 votes in favor, 25 against and 12 abstentions, the Senate endorsed the proposed Law on Time Zones sent by the Chamber of Deputies last September, considering that "eliminating summer time represents the protection of the right to health ".

• Summer time in Mexico could come to an end: what is the reason?

This law determines that there will be a standard time throughout the country that will be established according to the time zones, with the exception of the municipalities in the border area with the United States so that they keep the summer time in order not to affect the commercial exchange. .

How are the schedules in Mexico

Mexico already has four time zones, which are defined by the Greenwich meridian, which was chosen as the zero meridian to measure longitude in 1884. That means that the time zones are divided into four:

• Central Time (Meridian 90)

  : it is applied in most of the Mexican territory.

• Pacific Time (Meridian 105 West)

  : applies to the states of Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Nayarit (except the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, which is governed by Central time), Sinaloa and Sonora.

• Northwest Time (Meridian 120 west)

  : applies in the state of Baja California.

• Southwest Time (Meridian 75 west)

  : applies in the state of Quintana Roo.

That said, according to the new law there will be a standard schedule that will be established according to the time zones indicated above.

However, the states and municipalities of the northern border will have a seasonal schedule which "will take effect from two hours on the second Sunday in March, and will end at two hours on the first Sunday in November."

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The "minimal" energy savings and health impact

Historically, the raison d'être of summer time has been to take advantage of more sunlight to use less electricity in homes or work buildings.

But the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador argues that the energy savings that were promised when it came into force 26 years ago have not been produced.

During the session in the Senate, the president of the Energy Commission, Rocío Abreu Artiñano, said that energy savings have represented less than 1% with respect to the energy consumed each year, with which "it has not met its objective , but it has produced negative impacts on the health of the population”.

While the practice can help reduce some energy consumption, critics of this measure have questioned whether it is worth implementing.

In 2008, the US Department of Energy found that a four-week extension of daylight saving time from April-October to March-November saved about 0.5% in total electricity every day.

And while that seems like next to nothing, it totals 1.3 billion kilowatt hours, which according to the US Department of Energy adds up to "the amount of electricity used by more than 100,000 homes for an entire year."

Are there benefits to the daylight saving time change?

7:16

But a study that same year by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that daylight saving time slightly increases residential electricity demand: Although lighting use was reduced, heating and cooling demand increased, so the electricity consumption was about the same.

In addition to energy reasons, the Mexican government sent this initiative last July after concluding that advancing the clock every early April is detrimental to health.

Experts say that adjusting our clocks in the spring alters the circadian rhythm, which controls sleep.

Lack of sleep, they explain, is linked to type II diabetes, heart attacks and depression.

On the other hand, there are those who assure that this practice does not suppose great damage to health, except for those people who suffer from sleep disorders.

The debate in other countries

Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz, senator of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), said that this opinion goes against what is happening in the world in this matter, since at the international level the schedule that is eliminated is winter, since the schedule of summer reduces childhood obesity, "because you have more daylight hours where women and children can be in the park."

She also pointed out that it decreases violence and criminal incidence.

Mexico is not the only country in the world where it is debated whether or not the time change should exist.

In the European Union (EU) it is a controversy that comes twice a year with each clock adjustment because the member countries cannot agree on its implementation, despite the fact that in 2018 the European Parliament voted in favor of ending this practice.

• ANALYSIS |

  What's the point of having US daylight saving time?

In the United States, the Senate approved last March by unanimous consensus the Sunlight Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent in that country.

Although it would still have to pass the House of Representatives and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law, the bill has its critics.

The reform approved by the Chamber of Senators in Mexico establishes the time for the entire country based on the different time zones recognized in the national territory and in accordance with the agreements made at the International Meridian Conference in 1884, which determined the zero meridian.

In addition, it includes the power so that local congresses can present an initiative before the Congress of the Union to choose their own schedule, with prior consultation with the population.

With reporting from CNN's Paul LeBlanc and Ali Zaslav.

Summer schedule