Back to the moment of move the clock hands to return to daylight saving time.
In fact, in the night between Saturday 26 March and Sunday 27 March 2022, we will have to change the time of one hour ahead, between 2 and 3. In fact, by now we know that our devices such as smartphones and computers, automatically change the time for us, so much of the situation is made easier for us.
Lo disadvantage immediate for us concerns the time of sleep, in fact that night we will sleep an hour less and it will take a few days to ensure that our body gets used to the change of time.
But what are the advantages of summer time and why was it decided?
Summer time: the advantages
The idea of including daylight saving time in companies was born towards the end of the 800th century, but was ratified by law for the first time in Great Britain in 1916 due to the needs that were required due to the First World War. From then on many countries made the same decision, to move the clocks forward one hour, for economic reasons. Also in Italy it was adopted in 1916.
At the time, the purpose of daylight saving time was always to save on your electricity bill. But how? By increasing the hours of natural light that can be used in a day, artificially, by putting the hands one hour forward.
But let's go into detail.
Obviously in fact the hours of light do not increase real, one hour of light is simply created usable in addition that did not exist before.
For example:
- if we sleep from 22.00 to 7.00, in the summer without daylight saving time, we lose an hour of light because the sun rises around 6:00. So, putting an hour ahead on the clock, we take advantage of the hour of light in the morning and turn on the electric light an hour later in the evening, saving on the bill.
The days will only appear to be longer, the sun doesn't slow down!
Summer time: the disadvantages
As mentioned, ours biological clock could be affected of this change. Not only would we need a few days to retake a normal sleep and wake rhythm, but we may feel irritable and nervous as well as less productive.
But don't worry, these phenomena will disappear within a few days.
From an energy point of view a debate is underway in this regard, compared to a hundred years ago the energy needs of the population have changed a lot and so has consumption.
Numerous studies have in fact shown that consumption even during summer time would increase, given the massive presence of air conditioners, very rare in the 900s. In Italy the phenomenon is more reduced, leading to the use of solar time idle from the point of view of energy saving, but many scholars are asking to "put on the plate”Not only the energy impact but also productivity.
As already mentioned, there is also an impact on the health and productivity of individuals due to the time change. Impact that has never been quantified in the resulting economic damage.
How to get used to summer time
The negative phenomena of the time change can be solved with some precautions:
- you can adapt by gradually anticipating the time you go to sleep or those of lunch and dinner. It can also be done just by anticipating them by a quarter of an hour;
- you can spend more time outdoors to get used to the new hours;
- practicing physical activity can help return our biological clock to a normal rhythm.
The abolition of summer time: what is the situation?
For several years there has been talk of the abolition of summer time because it is considered anachronistic and no longer useful for saving on electricity.
In the past it has been abolished several times, but for different reasons: for example from 1940 to 1948 it happened due to the Second World War, but various was suspended other times until 1966. Since that year it has been definitively restored.
Il European Parliament, in 2019, voted one resolution to abolish it, leaving the choice of how to proceed to individual countries.
Currently, Italy has decided to keep the alternation between solar time and summer time.
Not all countries have decided to abolish it because the decision depends above all on the differences in latitude: those closest to the Pole have summer days that are already very long in themselves.
Because Italy has not abolished summer time
Our country has not decided to abolish summer time for several reasons:
- between 2004 and 2020 1,7 billion euros were saved on electricity. In fact, the closure of the shops coincided with the delay of one hour in turning on the lights, so the savings were considerable;
- there is the doubt that time zones, which would become more confusing by never switching to summer time, could also generate problems in the internal market.
