As of: February 24, 2024, 10:54 a.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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It's that time again on March 31st.
The clocks are set forward one hour.
It has been clear for a long time: this doesn't help when it comes to saving energy.
Berlin – Summer time is approaching and with it the annual discussion about the benefits of the time difference.
It all started with a joke: US founding father Benjamin Franklin wrote an ironic letter to the authors of the
Journal of Paris
in 1784 , in which he made fun of “slackers” and mused about getting up earlier to save energy.
Hundreds of years later, his idea regularly disrupts the biological clocks of many people in this country.
Next time on March 31, 2024.
The world clock on Berlin's Alexanderplatz.
© Imago/Dirk Sattler
How the time difference came about – and what speaks for it
Franklin suggested a measure in his letter to save money on lighting.
The great inventor first explained that he had “discovered” that the sun rises at 6 a.m. in the summer - and in doing so he made fun of himself for being a late riser.
“Your readers,” he writes to the
Journal of Paris
, “who, like me, have never seen any sign of sunshine before noon [...] will be as amazed as I was when they hear of its so early emergence.” The Idea: The French should simply get up as soon as it gets light and then go to bed early in the evening.
This saves candles and therefore money.
Basically, this sounds like the principle of time change that is still used today.
At least the measures today are more humane than in Franklin's time: The US founding father had, among other things, suggested firing cannons "to effectively wake up the idlers." The real benefit of the time change can be seen in a sentence from the German federal government from 2005 summarize.
“In terms of energy consumption, summer time offers no advantages,” it said in an answer to a small query.
Germany first introduced daylight saving time in 1916 during the First World War to save energy.
These reasons speak against a time change
The time change can have direct consequences for forgetful people, such as missing a plane or arriving at work late.
Then there are less obvious consequences, such as more accidents involving wildlife.
Studies also suggest that there are health effects.
It is fairly undisputed that the change to daylight saving time can disrupt circadian rhythms and lead to sleep disorders and sleep deprivation.
The results of a study by a team of researchers from the Italian University of Ferrara also suggest a connection between summer time and a slight increase in heart attacks.
This is the case “particularly during the spring changeover,” “although there are no clear gender-specific differences,” the researchers concluded.
About the study
The study “Daylight saving time and myocardial infarction: should we be worried?
A review of the evidence” by the authors Roberto Manfredini, F. Fabbian, A. De Giorgi et al.
appeared on February 22, 2018 in the medical journal
European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences
.
Link to the study
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On the night of March 30th to 31st, the clocks will be set forward again from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.
That means: one hour less sleep.
A large proportion of people in Europe would be happy to do without it.
As an EU-wide survey with 4.6 million participants in 2018 showed, 84 percent of those surveyed would abolish the time change.
The European Union had actually already committed itself to implementing this by 2021.
So far, coordination between the states has failed.
But this is necessary to avoid a “time patchwork”.