Spring Forward! 2015 Daylight Saving Time Starts This Sunday in U.S.
Daylight Saving Time will start this Sunday at 2 a.m. local time in most of the United States and parts of Canada. Clocks should be set ahead by one hour.
In the European Union, Summer Time (called British Summer Time, or BST, in the United Kingdom and Sommerzeit in Austria and Germany) will start three weeks later on March 30. This discrepancy in start times leaves the U.S. out of sync with a significant part of the world for the coming three weeks. Up until just a few years ago, when the U.S. adjusted the start and end times of Daylight Saving Time, this period was only one week.
Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. will end on November 2 and resume on March 8, 2016. In the European Union, Summer Time will end on October 26 and resume March 29, 2016.
Daylight Saving Time is a system of managing the changing amounts of daylight that occur during the year, with a goal of maximizing daylight hours during the typical workday. It was first proposed in 1784 by Benjamin Franklin, who believed it would save an “immense sum.” It was not broadly adopted until the early twentieth century when the U.S. temporarily enacted Daylight Saving Time as an energy-saving measure.
By adjusting clocks ahead by an hour, people typically have more daylight available during the workday. For example, in the case of someone who typically awakens at 7 a.m., since in the spring the sun rises earlier each day, an individual would have to rise at 6 a.m. to take advantage of the additional daylight. Instead, by moving the clock ahead by one hour, that person can continue to wake at 7 a.m. and enjoy more daylight in the early evening hours.
In order to avoid problems with Daylight Saving Time, business travelers should remember to update any operating systems or devices that do not automatically adjust to Daylight Saving Time. Appliances that update automatically include laptop and desktop computers using Apple or Windows operating systems as well as most smartphones.
Daylight Saving Time is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation). Until 2006, the counties in the Eastern Time Zone of Indiana did not observe Daylight Saving Time and remained on standard time year round. As of April 2006, all of Indiana observes Daylight Saving Time. Most of Asia, Africa, and South America do not observe Daylight Saving Time at all.
Finally, don’t forget about your analog wristwatches and clocks – they won’t adjust themselves!
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
