| Q. | Why is daylight saving time used during the summer and not the winter? | Related Search:
Astronomy & Space | | | Also, why does it make more sense to use daylight saving time in countries with higher latitude? I don't really understand the concept of daylight saving time. Could anyone please help me out with simple clear examples? Thanks so much.
| | A. | Where I live, it would be broad daylight at 4 am in summer when there's hardly anyone up and about. By putting the clocks one hour forward, it gets light at 5 am rather than 4 am, thus penalising very few people, but gets dark at 9 pm instead of 8 pm, benefiting many and saving energy in delaying the time lights have to be switched on. In the tropics, the sun rises and sets at more or less the same time all year and there isn't really any 'summer' as we would know it. | | | |
| Q. | How do atomic clocks know when it is daylight saving time? | Related Search:
Other - Science | | | With the end of daylight saving time in the United States (and elsewhere), my atomic clocks reset themselves back to standard time. My question is does the clock do this because of some programming in the clock itself, or is it because of the signal broadcast by NIST? The reason that I'm wondering is because the start and end dates for daylight saving time will change beginning next year, and I'm wondering if the atomic clocks will give the right time unadjusted.
Thanks in advance for your answers.
| | A. | Its because of the signal. Atomic clocks that you can purchase are just receivers, similar to the clocks on cell phones.The actual atomic clocks are cesium oscillators which measure the decay of cesium atoms (the metric standard for 1 second.) They are just keepng track of seconds so the NIST adjusts what hour it actually is accordingly and then sends out the signal. I'm sure that will be the case when DST changes. | | | |
| Q. | What is the wisdom behind the daylight saving time? | Related Search:
Geography | | | Many countries will shortly implement the daylight saving time. Is it indeed a boon or bane? Please enlighten us with more geographical knowledge.
| | A. | Whether "spring forward" or "fall back," we change our clocks one hour ahead or behind twice each year, thanks to Daylight Saving Time.
On Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time begins in the United States.
Every spring we move our clocks one hour ahead and "lose" an hour during the night and each fall we move our clocks back one hour and "gain" an extra hour. But Daylight Saving Time (and not Daylight Savings Time with an "s") wasn't just created to confuse our schedules.
The phrase "Spring forward, fall back" helps people remember how Daylight Saving Time affects their clocks. At 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward one hour ahead of standard time ("spring forward"). We "fall back" at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November by setting our clock back one hour and thus returning to standard time.
The change to Daylight Saving Time allows us to use less energy in lighting our homes by taking advantage of the longer and later daylight hours. During the eight month period of Daylight Saving Time, the names of time in each of the time zones in the U.S. (map) change as well. Eastern Standard Time (EST) becomes Eastern Daylight Time, Central Standard Time (CST) becomes Central Daylight Time (CDT), Mountain Standard Time (MST) becomes Mountain Daylight Tome (MDT), Pacific Standard Time becomes Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), and so forth.
Daylight Saving Time was instituted in the United States during World War I in order to save energy for war production by taking advantage of the later hours of daylight between April and October. During World War II the federal government again required the states to observe the time change. Between the wars and after World War II, states and communities chose whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act which standardized the length of Daylight Saving Time.
Daylight Saving Time is four weeks longer since 2007 due to the passage of the Energy Policy Act in 2005. The Act extended Daylight Saving Time by four weeks from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, with the hope that it would save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses during daylight hours. Unfortunately, it is exceedingly difficult to determine energy savings from Daylight Saving Time and based on a variety of factors, it is possible that little or no energy is saved by Daylight Saving Time.
Arizona (except some Indian Reservations), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have chosen not to observe Daylight Saving Time. This choice does make sense for the areas closer to the equator because the days are more consistent in length throughout the year.
Daylight Saving Time Around the World
Other parts of the world observe Daylight Saving Time as well. While European nations have been taking advantage of the time change for decades, in 1996 the European Union (EU) standardized a EU-wide European Summer Time. This EU version of Daylight Saving Time runs from the last Sunday in March through the last Sunday in October.
In the southern hemisphere where summer comes in December, Daylight Saving Time is observed from October to March. Equatorial and tropical countries (lower latitudes) don't observe Daylight Saving Time since the daylight hours are similar during every season, so there's no advantage to moving clocks forward during the summer.
Kyrgyzstan is the only country that observes year-round Daylight Saving Time. The country has been doing so since 2005.
U.S. Daylight Saving Time
Year Spring Forward Fall Back
2004 2 a.m. April 4 2 a.m. Oct. 31
2005 2 a.m. April 3 2 a.m. Oct. 30
2006 2 a.m. April 2 2 a.m. Oct. 29
2007 2.a.m. March 11 2 a.m. Nov. 4
2008 2 a.m. March 9 2 a.m. Nov. 2
2009 2 a.m. March 8 2 a.m. Nov. 1
2010 2 a.m. March 14 2 a.m. Nov 7
2011 2 a.m. March 13 2 a.m. Nov. 6 | | | |
| Q. | How do they observe Daylight Saving Time in Australia? | Related Search:
Geography | | | I know it's the opposite time of the year there because it's in the Southern Hemisphere. I was wondering how they observe Daylight Saving Time there. Do they do it the same way we do here in America? Do they set their clocks an hour back the same time we do and an hour forward the same time we do? Or do they do it the exact opposite? How do they do it in The Land Down Under?
| | A. | When we put our clocks one hour forward in our Spring the Aussies are setting their clocks one hour back asit is their Fall. And in our Spring here in the Northern hemisphere we put our clocks one hour ahead and in the Southern Hemisphere in Austrailia they put their clocks one hour back as it is their Fall. The old saying goes>>>Spring Forward & Fall Back. | | | |
| Q. | How can I calculate the dates for daylight saving time? | Related Search:
Earth Sciences & Geology | | | Is there a way to calculate the start and end dates for daylight saving (for North America and Europe) ?
The formula to calculate fahrenheit from celsius is
Fahrenheit = (9/5) * Celcius + 32
What is the formula, however complicated that would generate the beginning and end dates for daylight saving time for any year?
| | A. | I'm afraid there isn't one - it's just whatever the government chooses to legislate. For example, in the United States of America, it's the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. | | | |
| Q. | When daylight saving time begins, does it still feel like you get the same amount of sleep? | Related Search:
Other - Society & Culture | | | Daylight saving time just began. People say we lose an hr of sleep. I usually go to sleep at 11, and wake up at 7. So, will i still feel like i got 8 hrs of sleep or am i gonna feel more tired?
| | A. | Actually I can never feel the difference...I think if we do feel a difference then it's all in our head. | | | |
| Q. | Why is it that daylight saving time is so confusing and irritating? | Related Search:
Mathematics | | | Can daylight saving time be much more simpler whenever I visit a temperate country??? Thank goodness I live in a tropical country.
| | A. | Because you are used to non daylight saving time.
If I am used to the metric system, I will find the US system of measurements confusing and irritating. | | | |
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