Do you enjoy that nice extra hour of sleep because of Daylight Savings Time (DST), and think nothing of it? Would you even say you support DST? Well you should definitely reconsider because believe it or not, DST actually has a number of ill effects, which is exactly why our country should stop using it. The concept of Daylight Savings Time has existed for quite some time, in fact Benjamin Franklin even advocated for the idea. The policy has had some history as being implemented exclusively during wartime, first in WW1 under the name “fasttime,” and again in WW2 under FDR. The first policy initiative for implementing DST that wasn’t related to war was in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act. Some proponents and policymakers say that it saves energy, but the evidence for this is minimal and studies have even shown that it’s false. People who advocate for DST, or people who are neutral should stop supporting it because it has been proven to cause sleep deprivation, increases in certain illnesses, negative effects on mental health, and an increase in different injuries.
The first reason, of many, why DST should stop being practiced is sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation happens to all of us eventually whether you support DST or not. It can cause lack of attention and decreased sharpness, among other things. It just so happens that a correlation was found between the “spring forward” transition in March, and increased sleep deprivation in students. A 2015 study conducted in the U.S found that during the post-DST week, students had a “cumulative sleep loss of 2 h 42 min as compared to the baseline week” (Medina et al). Students were tested using the “Psychomotor Vigilance Test,” which measures “vigilance and cognitive performance associated with sleep loss” (Medina et al). Due to this resulting loss of sleep, the students’ alertness in school dropped, “Vigilance significantly deteriorated, with a decline in PVT performance post-DST, resulting in longer reaction times” (Medina et al). This evidence is not shocking to any high schooler who has not gotten enough sleep on a school night, but the fact that this is woven into our practice of time using DST is greatly disturbing. Proponents of DST in response might cite the extra hour supposedly gained during the “fall-back” transition in October. However even if some time is gained, our bodily clocks are still out of sync for days, even weeks, “People think the one-hour transition is no big deal, that they can get over this in a day, but what they don’t realize is their biological clock is out of sync” (Malow). Some people’s circadian rhythms are not flexible, and take a while to adjust to the change. While we should be concerned with the implication of student’s performance in school dropping, these slower reaction times more generally can be dangerous. This implication will be discussed later however. The main point is that exacerbating the sleep loss of our students in this country with DST should definitely not be something we’re doing, and should be removed.
Moving on, let’s talk about illness. DST transitions have been shown to cause increases in certain illnesses, which is just another reason why the system should be removed. It might be hard to imagine that changing the clocks could affect our body, but it’s true. In a study of both Americans and Swedes, increases in cardiovascular, immune-system, and other types of illness were observed during spring-forward in March, “We found four prominent, elevated risk clusters, including cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks), injuries, mental and behavioral disorders, and immune-related diseases such as noninfective enteritis and colitis to be significantly associated with DST shifts in the United States and Sweden” (Zhang et al). In men and women over the age of 60, immune-system related illness increased by 6% and 3% respectively. This same study also found that the risk of substance use for psychoactive drugs increase in both the Fall and Spring transitions, “…psychoactive substance use increases as much as nine percent with the spring DST shift and 12 percent with the autumn DST shift but only among males age 20 or above population” (Zhang et al). These increases in various different illnesses all across the spectrum might have surprised you, as it did me. However the study states that a possible cause for the increased risk in drug use is actually directly DST itself, and how people who have used drugs are more sensitive to sudden changes in their bodily clocks. You might have noticed that in the first quote presented, “mental illness” was also included as a risk factor. Well it turns out that seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also called winter depression, increases during DST transitions, “A Danish study found an 11% increase in depression cases after the time change” (Buckle). You may have experienced this to some capacity before, as the increased darkness and gloomy weather isn’t particularly enjoyable for some people. However People already living with depression or other disorders are very susceptible, “For some people living with depression or other mood disorders, the approach of the changeover is a time of dread” (Carolla). These various increases in illness are most definitely not insignificant, and not specific to one country. Make sure to remember these troubling statistics when you wake up after an extra hour of sleep, but you should also remember this next reason DST should be scrapped.
Moving on to something already briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph, and another reason DST should be forgoed is increases in injuries. Alluded to in the first supporting point that discussed DST causing sleep deprivation, these Injuries that are predictably caused by sleep deprivation, which is triggered by DST. Driving while being sleep-deprived is never a good idea, and it turns out that increases in traffic accidents and fatalities were observed in March, “The spring transition into DST is associated with a 6.5 percent increase in fatal crashes” (Smith 76). The study itself states that while light could also be a factor, it nulls itself out due to decreased crashes in the morning and decreased crashes in the evening meaning sleep deprivation is most definitely the driving (pun not intended) factor, “…morning and evening light impacts balance out and light has no net impact through DST” (Smith 80). However car crashes are not the only example of increased injuries due to DST. Another study found that injuries and accidents related to mining labor increased as well, “…we discovered that the spring shift to daylight saving time resulted in a 6% increase in mining injuries…” (Wagner). As you might guess once again, this increase in mining injuries is also rooted in sleep deprivation, “With less rest, people make more mistakes, which appear to cause more traffic accidents and workplace injuries…” (Gant). You’ve probably experienced sleep deprivation before, maybe you’ve even had an accident because of it. It can be deadly, so why should it be integrated into our system of time?
Now on to our final main point as to why the policy of DST should be removed, that being its cost. We’ve already talked about and outlined the other costs of DST, but what about the monetary costs? The supposed saved money is a large reason why DST was implemented in the first place, so it might be surprising that very little evidence and even evidence against these supposed benefits. The evidence that does exist from a 2008 congressional report suggests a national decrease in energy consumption of 1.3 Terawatt hours, “…the electricity savings translate to a reduction of 17 Trillion Btu (TBtu) over the spring and fall Extended Daylight Saving Time periods…” (“Impact of Extended DST on Energy Consumption”). However these savings are about “…0.03 percent of the total national electricity consumption of 3,900 TWh in 2007.” This is a relatively small amount of saved energy on the national level, and considering all the other drawbacks of the policy, it’s not worth it. A study looking at DST data before 2007 in the state of Indiana found that the switch from DST to ST (standard time) actually costs more money, “Our main finding is that — contrary to the policy’s intent — DST increases residential electricity demand” (Kotchen et al.) This increase they found was caused by a spike in heating demand, as the added hour in the morning required more heat, “There is also evidence for a heating effect that causes an increase in electricity consumption. When temperatures are such that heating is necessary, having an additional hour of darkness in the morning, which is the coldest time of day, increases electricity consumption” (Kotchen et al). They found that during the fall transition electricity usage rose by 2 to 4 percent. The study also speculates that this impact could be larger in the southern United States due to shorter days with less light and more intense AC usage. A previous piece of evidence touched on, about mining injuries also found that there was a “67% increase in workdays lost because of these injuries” (Wagner). As you can probably guess, lost workdays aren’t exactly the most profitable thing. All of this suggests that one of the core reasons why we still use DST, supposed cost savings, isn’t exactly true. This is one more reason for abandoning DST.
As we conclude, people who actively advocate for DST or are neutral, whether their law-makers or normal citizens, should seriously reconsider why they believe it should still be practised and then re-evaluate their position. One of the biggest arguments for DST is that of energy savings due to less light usage, however the evidence that does exist in favor shows a very marginal decrease in energy consumption, and studies have even shown that DST actually has a net increase in energy consumption. Some supporters might also argue that DST makes the community safer with more light in March, but this is simply not the case as there has observed to be a 7 percent increase in fatal car accidents, and increase in injuries. The fact is that the cons of using DST far outweigh the pros. The spring-forward in March is proven to cause sleep deprivation, and lack of attention and sharpness. It messes with our biological clocks. This ties into the fact that DST negatively affects our mental health, and increases seasonal depression. DST also has been observed to correlate with an increase in immune-system related illnesses, and increases in injuries caused by sleep deprivation. DST is also costly, with evidence for more heating demand caused by the earlier work hours. While you might look forward to that sweet extra hour of sleep, you might want to pause and think about what that transition really does, and the real effects of it. So whenever someone passively accepts Daylight Savings Time as a fact of life, make sure to tell them that it’s not so simple.
References:
Bikos, Konstantin et al. “Daylight Saving Time in the US” Timeanddate.com, https://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/daylight-saving-usa.html
Buckle, Anne. “Is Daylight Saving Time Bad for Your Health?” Timeanddate.com, www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/daylight-saving-health.html.
Carolla, Bob. “Turning the Clock May Turn Your Mood.” www.nami.org 3 Nov. 2016, www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/November-2016/Turning-the-Clock-May-Turn-Your-Mood.
Gant, Laura. “Is Daylight Saving Time Worth the Trouble? Research Says No.” PBS NewsHour, 4 Nov. 2017, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/is-daylight-saving-time-worth-the-trouble-research-says-no.
“Impact of Extended Daylight Saving Time on National Energy Consumption.” Www1.Eere.Energy.Gov, U.S. Department of Energy, Oct. 2008, www1.eere.energy.gov/ba/pba/pdfs/epact_sec_110_edst_report_to_congress_2008.pdf.
Kotchen, Matthew et al. “Does Daylight Saving Time Save Energy? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Indiana.” NBER, 21 Oct. 2008, www.nber.org/papers/w14429.
Medina, Diana et al. “Adverse Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Adolescents’ Sleep and Vigilance.” Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine vol. 11,8 879–84. 15 Aug. 2015, doi:10.5664/jcsm.4938
Malow, B. A. (2019, November 04). Daylight Saving Time has long-term effects on health. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191104144133.htm
Smith, Austin, C. 2016. “Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8 (2): 65–91. DOI: 10.1257/app.20140100
Wagner, David. “The Costs of the Annual Switch to Daylight Saving Time Are Becoming Increasing Evident.” MarketWatch, 7 Mar. 2018, www.marketwatch.com/story/the-costs-of-the-annual-switch-to-daylight-saving-time-are-becoming-increasing-evident-2018-03-07.
Zhang, Hanxin et al. “Measurable health effects associated with the daylight saving time shift.” PLoS computational biology vol. 16,6 e1007927. 8 Jun. 2020, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007927