As daylight savings finishes today in Sydney Australia I find myself wondering
Why do we have daylight savings? And why doesn’t every country have it?
Daylight savings was first used in thunder Bay Canada in 1908, but it has been show that a form of it has been used for centuries, as ancient civilisations altered their days according to the suns schedule. The first country to adopt the change in times was Germany. Pretty quickly the United Kingdom and France followed, but it was briefly stopped during World war I and then started again in World War II to the majority of the European countries.
In the US Daylight Savings Time started in 1918 and with varying rules between the states and lots of confusion it was marred throughout the years, until in 1966 a standard time was set for daylight savings.
In Australia we have a Daylight savings which started in 1917, but like most countries it was stopped during World War I, but then implemented again afterwards. It was Tasmania which had the greatest influence on Daylight Savings in Australia, as they were going through a drought and the increase in the daylight hours decreased the amount of electricity being consumed which saved water. Due to its success Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia adopted Daylight savings, but each is governed by their own issues, ie in the Sydney 2000 Olympics Daylight savings times were extended in some states.
Over 70 Countries use Daylight savings due to conserving energy from less artificial light, make better use of the daylight hours and there is a decrease of road accidents as roads are naturally lit during the hours with the most traffic.
The arguments against are that people are departing their home to go to work in the dark which is unsafe ad can cause more accidents, and there is an increase in heart attacks in the couple of days after the start and end of daylight savings. I do feel for the farmers though, as they have a tough job anyway and then being governed by a time change can be difficult for not only them but the livestock as well.
I personal love daylight savings as I find I achieve more in the summer months, it could be a myth, but I think with the fact that the sun in still shining when you leave work that you are more inclined to do more after work. Be in socialising, sport, recreation or just chores it is easier to do when the sun is still shining.
What are your thoughts? Do you like daylight savings or think we should can it and go back to Standard time?
