Community Corner
Here's When Clocks 'Spring Forward' for Daylight Saving Time 2014
It will be time to "spring forward" this weekend.
Don't let the below-freezing temperatures and snowΒ fool you: At 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, 2014, our clocks will move an hour ahead (or spring forward) toΒ begin daylight saving time 2014.Β
One day β maybe βΒ the weather will turn toward actual warmth. Add that to the extra hour of sunlight to those temperatures, andΒ you may feel your mood change, too.
"Most people can switch their schedules right away. It really depends on the individual and how much stress they have in their lives," naturopathic doctorΒ Chamandeep BaliΒ of TorontoΒ told The Huffington Post. "If you're the type of person who is always 'go go go', you'll be sleeping less."
Many electronic devices, like your cell phone and computer, automatically adjust whenΒ Daylight Saving TimeΒ begins or ends.
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So, why doesΒ Daylight Saving Time begin atΒ at 2 a.m., and why shift our clocks at all?
According to Webhibit:
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In the United States,Β 2 a.m. was originally chosen as the changeover time because it was practicalΒ and minimized disruption. Most people were at home and this was the time when the fewest trains were running. It is late enough to minimally affect bars and restaurants, and it prevents the day from switching to yesterday, which would be confusing. It is early enough that the entire continental U.S. switches by daybreak, and the changeover occurs before most early shift workers and early churchgoers are affected.
The larger reason for shifting our clocks, however, is energy conservation.
Ben Franklin first suggested shifting the clocksΒ to save on candles, according to Discovery, but no one took him up on his idea at the time.
The first official national time shift wasnβt until 1918. Then the United States stopped the practice, started again during World War II for energy conservation reasons, stopped when the war was over and re-started with theΒ Uniform Time Act in 1966. TheΒ Energy Policy Act of 2005Β lengthened daylight saving to eight months instead of six months.
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