Daylight Saving Time, also called summer time, is the system for uniformly advancing clocks, so as to extend daylight hours during conventional waking time in the summer months. In countries in the Northern Hemisphere, clocks are usually set ahead one hour in late March or in April and are set back one hour in late September or in October.
About DST
- The practice was first suggested in a whimsical essay by Benjamin Franklinin 1784.
- Several countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, adopted summer Daylight Saving Time during World War Ito conserve fuel by reducing the need for artificial light.
- DST is in practice in some 70 countries, including those in the European Union.
- India does not follow daylight saving time; countries near the Equator do not experience high variations in daytime hours between seasons. (There is, however, a separate debate around the logic of sticking with only one time zone in a country as large as India.)
- In the US, it is practiced everywhere except in Hawaii and most of Arizona. In Australia, DST is observed in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania besides some other, smaller territories; and not observed in Queensland and Western Australia among other territories.
Objectives for using DST
- Achieve energy efficiency: Increasing focus on energy efficiency due to climate change because of over consumption of energy makes DST relevant. DST is thus environmentally sustainable concept.
- To ensure that the clocks show a later sunrise and later sunset — in effect ensure a longer evening daytime.
- Completion of routine work an hour earlier.
- DST is meant to save energy.
DST role in economy of an area
Possible Positive role:
On energy consumption:
- Energy is an important sector of the economy that creates jobs and value and extends its reach into economy thus contributes to economic growth and daylight saving time has its purported effect on energy usage.
- A report presented by S Department of Energy to Congress concluded that four week extension of daylight time saved about 0.5% of the nation’s electricity per day.
On Retail:
- Those who benefit most from DST are the retailers, sporting goods makers, and other businesses that benefit from extra afternoon sunlight.
- Having more hours of sunlight in between the end of the typical workday and bedtime induces customers to shop and to participate in outdoor afternoon sports.
- In 1984, Fortunemagazine estimated that a seven-week extension of DST would yield an additional $30 million for 7-Eleven stores
On leisure sector:
- The National Golf Foundationestimated the extension would increase golf industry revenues $200 million to $300 million.
- A 1999 study estimated that DST increases the revenue of the European Union‘s leisure sector by about 3%.
On human capital:
- As we know economic impact of a better health could add $12 trillion to global GDP in 2040 and DST can significantly contribute to it as DST proponents argue the benefits of longer evenings in providing healthier lifestyle and a better healthy society.
Increased safety:
- Crime rates and traffic accidents decrease as a result of less evening activity in the dark
Possible negative role:
On Agriculture sector:
- DST can harm some farmers and others whose hours are set by the sun. One reason why farmers oppose DST is that grain is best harvested after dew evaporates, so when field hands arrive and leave earlier in summer, their labor is less valuable.
- Dairy farmers are another group who complain of the change due to DST. Their cows are sensitive to the timing of milking, so delivering milk earlier disrupts their systems.
On energy consumption:
- Critics of DST argue lights have become increasingly efficient, so lighting is responsible for a smaller chunk of total energy consumption than it was a few decades ago. Heating and cooling probably matter more, and some places may need air-conditioning for the longer, hotter evenings of summer daylight saving time.
Loss of workdays due to injuries:
- A studyof mining injuries across the U.S., found that there was a spike in workplace injuries of nearly 6 percent on the Monday following the shift to daylight saving time.
- An even greater cause for concern is that the severity of these injuries, as measured by days of work lost because of the injuries, increased by a whopping 67 percent, representing 2,600 more workdays lost, simply because of injuries experienced on that one day.
On labour and work productivity:
- Workplace productivity the week after DST drastically decreases. People are tired and lethargic due to a reduction in sleep.
- For instance, a slight drop in stock market performance is usually observed after the switch
- On human health affecting human capital:
- DST increases the risk of heart attack by 25%, while a return to original times lowers the risk by 21%.
- The disrupted sleep patterns might affect memory, learning, social interactions and overall cognitive performance.
- Several health problems as a result of disruption of the circadian rhythm (body clock)
On accidents:
- One hour of lost sleep in the US, one study calculated, increases the fatal crash rate by 5.4% to 7.6% for six days following the transition.
