Clocks going back - daylight savings - who needs it??

Question

I hate it when we are just plunged into darkness so quick, why can't it just be allowed to happen naturally.
Yes I know we get Halloween and Guy Fawlkes, and bonfires as some sort of consolation, but we could have that anyway, because of the cold!!!

Answer 1

True, people would like more light in the evening, after work, and do not care all that much about it in the morning, like it was mentioned above.
But ... that can be argued as a reason to go to DST in the April. And I agree with it. But the question here was why go back in October. And that is a real mistery.
It goes straight opposite to this point, about more light after work. Contrary to the common misconception, it does not save any energy either - most industrial consumers use energy 24/7 anyway, and the residential ones use more in the evenings then mornings - so, if anything, moving the clock backwards makes us spend more energy, not less.

I have heard only one reason so far for going off the DST in October, that, while being quite laughable, doesn't at least, contradict the logic. I was told, that they want to move the clock back so that it is not dark in the morning when children go to school.

Answer 2

If you're really interested, there is a great book about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Spring-Forward-Annual-Madness-Daylight/dp/1593760531/sr=1-1/qid=1159886509/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0277168-0003169?ie=UTF8&s=books

It debunks the myth that farmers wanted it. They didn't like it, because it meant they had to start their day even earlier. The US first adopted Daylight Savings in 1918, then repealed it in 1919, largely because of opposition by farmers.

The reason that was given for it originally was that it would save coal during World War I. It would do this by keeping it warmer late in the day. Whether or not this was actually true is debateable.

The book says (and I believe it) that it is popular with some people today because it gives them more light to do things after work, when most people use their free time. In the morning, they just tend to get up and go to work anyway.

Did you know that before World War II, the US was pretty much divided on this? Roughly half the States had daylight saving, while half didn't. It was adopted then on a widespread basis, once again to "save coal". It has been steadily adopted since then by many other countries and the European Union. Leisure time seems a good reason, daylight savings seems to be more popular as people get richer and have more leisure time.

Great book.

Answer 3

I have just come back from two weeks in Spain and was depressed by how much earlier it is getting dark here. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents also make a strong safety case for moving to Central European Time. Surely the farmers in Scotland can adjust their clocks by an hour!

Answer 4

Only some western countries do that since the inhabitants there do not understand thats its dark or light.

These countries make sure that people know when to go to sleep and when to wake up. Its more like a controlled situation.

Answer 5

I agree with Lucy, Why can't the clocks stay the same. Even if there was a public vote against changing the clocks and majority rulled the government wouldn't act,

Answer 6

Daylight savings way developed in order to give farmers one extra hour of sunlight each day to harvest and get their crops to market. We go back to standard time in the fall because so many people (our great-great-great grandparents) were complaining about the extra hour, so dates were set to give the farmers just enough days to complete harvest, but let the rest of us sleep in during the winter.

It seems like a nuisance, but there was a time when it was proposed that we make it last all year round! I'd rather put up with the time change myself.......

Answer 7

We are going OFF daylight savings time at the end of October. So, the early darkness is the normal schedule not the DST schedule. If it weren't for DST, you would have had early darkness throughout the fall.

Answer 8

perfect component to undergo in recommendations is Spring ahead/Fall again, and each little thing digital automatic, you've already gotten responded right here. yet when you consider that we are speaking about it, it really is an irritant each and every time to me, regardless it really is only two times a 12 months. An out-of-date technique the position all of us could climb stools, collect clocks, pry a number of them open, etc.

Answer 9

it seems very easy to say that who needs it and it also seems very useless turning clocks.but if you are a real professional may be geologist or someone who actaully calculates the importance of daylight savings then that an hour or 2 gives you alot to work and make money as a country and takes you way forward.

Answer 10

The Sottish farmers need it, very few other people do. The RoSPA have made their views clear on the matter... http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/summertime_policy.pdf
Don't expect the British Government to do anything about it though...they hate us!