Should daylight saving time be abolished? – Weatherman Bram

Everyone knows this: twice a year we “clock” in our house to set all the clocks forward or backward by an hour and twice a year, we also have to give our biological clock some time to sync. On the last Sunday in March we turn the clock forward and sleep an hour less, and on the last Sunday in October we turn back the clock. 3 a.m., then 2 a.m., so we sleep an extra hour.

Again every year, but where does this habit come from and why has there been so much discussion about it lately?

There is such a thing as a universal unit of time, called “Coordinated Universal Time” or “Coordinated Universal Time”.Coordinated Universal Time, UTCThis is the division of time based on the sun. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) divides the world into time scales according to longitude, arrayed in the Greenwich meridian. Belgium is in the UTC+1 time zone. So our time is 1 hour ahead of that of the United Kingdom.

In 1977, in the midst of the economic crisis, it was decided to introduce daylight saving time to save energy by making daylight more consistent with the lifestyle of the average population. This daylight saving time corresponds to UTC + 2. So in winter we apply UTC + 1 (actual UTC) and in summer UTC + 2 (UTC + 1 hour).

So this was an economical measure to save energy, which is somewhat outdated today. In the meantime, there are other ways to save energy, and it’s also becoming clear that the introduction of daylight saving time poses some problems. For example, daylight saving time is not applied everywhere in the world, which can lead to confusion and missed appointments.

The morning rush hour lasts longer in the dark, especially in October (when daylight saving time is still in effect), it stays dark for a long time, until 08:30-9:00.

Traffic jams in the evening get longer in the summer due to the heat, which results in the ozone layer and smog. And on hot days, the heat in the house lingers. Finally, switching the time every six months twice a year disrupts our biological clock.

Enough reasons to choose for once, perhaps the best time for winter, though regular evening folks who want to enjoy late summer evenings might prefer not to hear it. If we always apply winter time, then on June 20, the longest day of the year, the sun will already rise at about 4:30 pm and set at 9 pm.

In any case, the European Commission wants to abolish the dual system and give member states the choice themselves: winter or summer. There are boot pinches. There is a very big division among the member states. So nothing will change for now.

In short.

Perpetual winter time equals Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and means early light and early dark with safer morning rush hour, lower ozone, and a cooler bedroom.

Permanent DST is beyond UTC, which means late light and late dark with long dark mornings in winter but late summer evenings in summer.