Every year, there are always a few who forget about the annual time shift. But this year, many are also confused about whether in a few days, this could be the last time they’ll ever need to put their clocks back.
Back in March, the U.S. Senate passed a bill (known as The Sunshine Protection Act) that would make DST permanent.
DST, which this year began on March 13 at 2 a.m. local time and ends on November 6 at 2 a.m. local time, sees the time put forward by an hour.
It “effectively moves one hour of daylight from the evening to the morning,” creating “more sunlit hours” in the evening during the months when the weather is the warmest, explains the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
“This change helps keep the hours of daylight coordinated with the time that most people are active. Proponents feel that this saves energy because in the spring and summer months more people may be outside in the evening and not using energy at home,” the NIST says.
So, What’s Actually Happening With Daylight Saving Time?
The Sunshine Protection Act still needs to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives before it can be signed into law by President Joe Biden, and, according to some reports, it has stalled in the House. If it’s passed by the House, the act would go into effect on November 5, 2023.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives told Newsweek, the Sunshine Protection Act, which was received in the House on March 16, 2022, “is currently held at the Speaker’s [Nancy Pelosi] desk.”
Asked whether there was a timeline for when the bill might be reviewed and voted on by the House, the spokesperson said: “The legislative agenda is determined by House Leadership”.
According to a Reuters report back in March, a spokesperson for Pelosi declined to say whether she supports the bill but said she was reviewing it closely, while the White House has not said whether Biden backs it.
There is an ongoing debate about the pros and cons of making DST permanent and some have been left more confused than ever since the bill was introduced, according to various comical videos shared on TikTok.
Back in March, TikTok user @iblackmouth shared a hilarious video showing the face of a confused-looking man superimposed onto a graphic of the sun, while other animated graphics of the same man float across a space background featuring what looks like a complex mathematical equation.
The video was overlaid with a message that read: “The US Senate approved a bill to make daylight savings time permanent. Does that mean we gain or lose an hour forever?”
Another video in March shared by user @taliajanedaisy showed a person appearing to tap figures into an invisible calculator, as the sounds of a cashier machine or other computing device played in the background. The video was overlaid with a message that read: “Me trying to figure out where the extra hour goes if the vote passes to get rid of daylight savings.”
A caption posted with the clip said: “Not mad just confused #daylightsavings #senate #sunshineprotectionact.”
A message overlaid on a TikTok video, which had over 115,000 likes, shared by user @llove_lola back in March read: “USA: It’s almost daylight savings so we’re going to lose an hour of sleep.”
A subsequent message on the clip read: “Arizona & Hawaii: ,” as a woman looking confused appeared to later mouth the words of a voice in the clip that said: “What the f*** are you talking about?”
Many may not be aware that DST, which was first introduced in the U.S. in 1918, is observed in most of the country, with a few exceptions.
Among the few areas where DST isn’t observed include Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and most of Arizona (apart from Arizona’s Navajo Indian territories which do practise DST), according to the NIST.
Back in 2018, Florida’s legislature enacted year-round DST and 19 other states passed “similar laws, resolutions, or voter initiatives,” while dozens of others are also looking to do the same, according to a statement from the office of Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is among the sponsors of the Sunshine Protection Act.
“However, for Florida’s change to apply, a change in the federal statute is required,” the office stated.
Benefits of Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent
Speaking on the Senate floor back in March, Rubio said: “There’s some strong science behind it that is now showing and making people aware of the harm that clock switching has. We see an increase in heart attacks and car accidents and pedestrian accidents in the week[s] that follow the changes.”
Rubio also said research has shown other benefits of making DST permanent, such as “reduced crime as there’s light later in the day” and decreases in child obesity and seasonal depression.
The senator said: “We’re a country [in which] we desperately want our kids to be outside, to be playing, to be doing sports, not just to be sitting in front of a TV or a computer terminal or playing video games all day…
“Hopefully, this is the year that this gets done. And pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come,” he said.
Among those on social media who managed to get their head around what the Sunshine Protection Act, if passed, would mean, some have shown support for it.
TikToker @pahjmachine shared a video message, with a caption that read “Stop time change!,” encouraging people to contact their local House representative to get them to vote for the Sunshine Protection Act.
User @makaylamshaw shared a video with a woman looking extremely surprised, holding a hand to her mouth, with a caption that read: “I’ve literally been asking myself why we don’t keep daylight savings time year round [crying laughing emoji].”
Studies and Sleep Experts Warn Against Daylight Saving Time
In a statement shared back in March, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) said making DST permanent “overlooks potential health risks that can be avoided by establishing permanent standard time instead.”
In a position statement published in October 2020 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the AASM said “an abundance of accumulated evidence” shows that the transition from standard time to DST “incurs significant public health and safety risks, including increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, and motor vehicle crashes.”
While the chronic effects of having DST year-round have not been well studied, the AASM said DST is “less aligned with human circadian biology.” This can result in “circadian misalignment, which has been associated in some studies with increased cardiovascular disease risk, metabolic syndrome and other health risks,” according to the AASM.
Previous studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals have shown a small rise in workplace injuries and medical errors in the days following a DST change. One 2019 study in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Medicine found the risk of heart attacks, also known as AMI (acute myocardial infarction), “increases modestly but significantly after DST transitions.”
A video shared by TikTok user @talesfromthedadside back in March shows a man appearing to leave a voicemail using a mobile phone, as a voice in the clip says “How could you do this to me?”
A message overlaid on the video read: “My vampire, daylight hating self contacting my congressman regarding their plan to make Daylight Savings Time permanent.”
A caption shared with the video said: “You have no idea how much this Sunshine Protection Act is going to affect me [tearful frowning face emoji] #daylightsavingstime #sunshineprotectionact #BridgertonScandal.”
Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Office of the Majority Leader for comment.
Update 11/4/22, 12:40 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
