Daylight Saving Time
It was pointed out to me that the change to BST (that took place on Sunday 29 March) is beneficial to sufferers from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I don't really see why, but my first thought was that if it helps them then it's OK by me. But I have changed my miond.
I read the Daylight Saving Time article on Wikipedia and saw the long list of disadvantages of changing the clocks during the year - but not everywhere and not on the same day, and not necessarily following a rule consistently even within one territory. In the world today there are lots of devices that need to be able to cope with the plethora of rules and mistakes could be costly or even dangerous.
Daylight Saving Time is a misnomer - the amount of daylight is of course unaffected by clocks. What proponents say is that it gives more light in the evenings. That rather depends on what you mean by 'evening'. If you mean a nominal 6pm, then why not say 6pm? Evening is rather ambiguous, but the term must originally have pertained to sunset or dusk or some such phenomenon independent of clocks. I have altered BST the article on Wikipedia to remove the terms 'morning' and 'evening' for this reason.
The considerable disruption caused around the world by clock changes to/from DST could mean that making them is not a "reasonable adjustment" to help SAD sufferers: If SAD sufferers (or anyone for that matter) want(s) to get up at first light so as to benefit the most from available daylight, why isn't that their own responsibility? There may be 'reasonable adjustments'. Employers may, for example, adjust their permitted working day to make better use of daylight hours. The COVID-19 measures have seen more people working from home; that may help, not least by freeing up transport capacity.
As I write, my mind is forming my argument against myself. Is it the things we do after work that are going to be the problem? If you are going to the pub that should be before bedtime, not before work. Should pubs be closing 8 hours before sunrise to ensure people have time to sleep but to maximise the use of daylight? It might get very complicated.
It appears that the EU will abandon the time changes from 2021. Each state will have to choose a time zone and stick to it. I imagine the UK will follow suit so that the advantages of always being a fixed number of hours different from EU countries will remain.
I read the Daylight Saving Time article on Wikipedia and saw the long list of disadvantages of changing the clocks during the year - but not everywhere and not on the same day, and not necessarily following a rule consistently even within one territory. In the world today there are lots of devices that need to be able to cope with the plethora of rules and mistakes could be costly or even dangerous.
Daylight Saving Time is a misnomer - the amount of daylight is of course unaffected by clocks. What proponents say is that it gives more light in the evenings. That rather depends on what you mean by 'evening'. If you mean a nominal 6pm, then why not say 6pm? Evening is rather ambiguous, but the term must originally have pertained to sunset or dusk or some such phenomenon independent of clocks. I have altered BST the article on Wikipedia to remove the terms 'morning' and 'evening' for this reason.
The considerable disruption caused around the world by clock changes to/from DST could mean that making them is not a "reasonable adjustment" to help SAD sufferers: If SAD sufferers (or anyone for that matter) want(s) to get up at first light so as to benefit the most from available daylight, why isn't that their own responsibility? There may be 'reasonable adjustments'. Employers may, for example, adjust their permitted working day to make better use of daylight hours. The COVID-19 measures have seen more people working from home; that may help, not least by freeing up transport capacity.
As I write, my mind is forming my argument against myself. Is it the things we do after work that are going to be the problem? If you are going to the pub that should be before bedtime, not before work. Should pubs be closing 8 hours before sunrise to ensure people have time to sleep but to maximise the use of daylight? It might get very complicated.
It appears that the EU will abandon the time changes from 2021. Each state will have to choose a time zone and stick to it. I imagine the UK will follow suit so that the advantages of always being a fixed number of hours different from EU countries will remain.
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