James Leroy Wilson's one-man magazine.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Daylight Savings

I've been meaning to comment on this for several weeks. I've seen Daylight Savings time in late April, early April, and now mid-March. I've also lived in the middle of Saskatchewan, where the summer days are so long and the winter days so short there was no point in daylight savings. Now, as the sun is rising at earlier and earlier times, I have two thoughts:

1. Daylight savings is a good idea not necessarily for its impact on the evening light, but on early am darkness. For many, it may be bad enough that daylight comes through the window at 4:30; it be even more annoying at 3:30.
2. It is more important that it be light out as people are rising, then that it be light in the later evening. The absurdity of the March date is that, just as it was becoming light out at 6am, suddenly it became dark again. 6am is when large segments of the workforce get up. Daylight boosts their energy more than darkness.

So it is ideal is to have the daylight savings time and standard time switch so that there is daylight by 6am for as long as possible, and also for it to remain dark until about 5am for as long as possible.

I don't know which particular dates would work best, but I know that March was much too early.

1 comment:

  1. The reason they don't have it in Indiana is because when they first proposed it, the tomato farmers objected that an extra hour of sunshine would ruin their crops.

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