We can all agree that it would be nice to eliminate the harmful side effects of changing the time twice a year.
Every March, we see an increase in car accidents, workplace injuries, and even an increase in heart attacks, all related to “moving forward the clock” and losing an hour of sleep. Those factors and more led for the US Senate to pass legislation Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent.
But there is a downside, or dark side, to staying in daylight saving time all year long. What would it mean if we left the clocks as they are from now on? Well, we wouldn’t notice anything different this summer, but we would see major changes during the winter months.
For example, here are some of the new super late sunrise times we’d see if the new bill becomes law:
LATER SUNRISES IN NYC:
Thanksgiving: 7:53 a.m.
Christmas morning: 8:18 a.m.
Valentine’s Day: 7:51 a.m.
Our most recent new sunrise would be at 8:20 am, which would occur from January 1 to January 7. If you think it’s late, Minot, North Dakota would have a sunrise at 9:35 a.m.
The other side of the coin is that we would never have those depressing 4:30 pm plus sunsets. In fact, our sunset would be earlier, at 5:28 pm, which would occur from December 3 to 13.
The bottom line: Due to our northern latitude, there will be a lot of darkness during the winter no matter what. If we stay in DST, it will mean that children will be waiting for the school bus in the dark even after 8:00 am, but it will also mean that there will not be total darkness at 5:00 pm when many people leave work to go to school. House.
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