ICYMI: Daylight Saving Time 2016 Ends This Weekend: When Do Clocks Fall Back?

AUSTIN, TX — Americans are a resilient lot, able to overcome challenges and obstacles with a gusto that is an attribute all but imprinted on the national DNA. We like to take challenges head on, inspired by our ever-optimistic aphorisms giving us encouragement.

Like early to bed early to wise makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. Or the early bird gets the worm. Or any of the other chirpy proverbs concocted by that character Benjamin Franklin. But while penning his timeless sayings, Franklin also introduced the idea of Daylight Saving Time back in the day, unwittingly ushering in an ongoing and raging debate as to whether the concept is a good one or one that is ill-advised.

Daylight Saving Time began on the second Sunday in March and ends this Sunday. What this means, of course, is that come Sunday we'll be right back in the thick of Standard Time, and you mustn't forget to turn your clocks back by an hour for those of you still using clocks, and you know who you are.

That's simple enough to do, but it's DST's net effect on energy savings and health that is the premise of much debate centered on the time shift.

The idea behind Daylight Saving Time has its roots, in this country, in the formative years of our nation. It was that troublemaker, the aforementioned Franklin, who first suggested it. Expounding in his 1784 essay "An Economical Project," the founding father argued for the time shifting as a way to save candles, and, by extension, daylight.

The idea hit old Ben with the force of an epiphany while visiting with friends. It is then that he saw the light, both figuratively and literally. He wrote:

"I was the other evening in a grand company, where the new lamp of Messrs. Quinquet and Lange was introduced, and much admired for its splendor; but a general inquiry was made, whether the oil it consumed was not in proportion to the light it afforded, in which case there would be no saving in the use of it."

As the conversation progressed, it was agreed that it would be a cool thing if time could, somehow, be lessened in essence to limit the need for illumination and save on the cost of candles.

"No one present could satisfy us in that point, which all agreed ought to be known, it being a very desirable thing to lessen, if possible, the expense of lighting our apartments, when every other article of family expense was so much augmented."

Franklin derived great joy in seeing how his friends concurred: "I was pleased to see this general concern for economy, for I love economy exceedingly," he unabashedly wrote.

Well, good for you, Ben. But the rest of us continue to be tormented as to whether your idea — particularly in our times of modernity when a candle is more of a mood-setting implement or affectation than a means to illuminate one's home.

Since Franklin first proposed the idea for DST, the U.S. intermittently flirted with the idea until it became an annual occurrence in the majority of states that practice it. Our friends up north in Canada can take the credit (or blame) in helping coax us to adopt it, having first tried out seasonal time shifting in 1908.

The time shift was adopted in earnest in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law to benefit the war effort during WWI but later scrapped after the end of the global conflict. Franklin D. Roosevelt reintroduced it in 1942 at the beginning of WWII, and it's been observed ever since.

Daylight Saving Time is now in use in more than 70 countries worldwide, affecting more than one billion people every year. The practice isn't unique to the U.S., and the concept has been utilized, to a fashion, since ancient times when civilizations used water clocks that were adjusted differently throughout the year.

So what exactly is DST? Think of it this way: The time shown on the clock from November to March every year in the northern hemisphere is "standard time." For the rest of the year, you're experiencing "saving time." Folks in the southern hemisphere do it in reverse, observing daylight saving time during their summer period, between November and March.

Pretty simple, no? Well, things get a little more confusing because not everyone uses DST. Most of Asia and Africa eschew the practice, as do parts of Australia and South America. Arizona, Hawaii and many U.S. territories such as Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands don't use it.

Energy savings are the main thrust behind the concept. But does Daylight Saving Time really save energy? Recent studies have cast a shadow of doubt on this notion, with some research even suggesting the implementation of Daylight Saving Time leads to greater power use.

But DST does have its fans, if only based on profit motive. Scientific American magazine noted in an article a few years back that retailers, especially those selling sports and recreation goods, have historically championed the extension of daylight time.

Those involved in the golf industry told Congress in 1986 that an extra month of daylight saving was worth some $400 million annually in extra sales and fees.

Yet DST has its detractors arguing that DST doesn't translate into substantive energy savings, the main idea behind the idea. Take Indiana, for example. When the state first instituted DST statewide in 2006 (prior to that, only a handful of counties practiced it, only adding to the chaos), researchers found that daylight time led to a 1 percent overall rise in residential electricity use, costing the state an extra $9 million, according to Scientific American.

In other areas, the net effect of DST was negligible. A California Energy Commissioner economist found that extending daylight time had little to no effect on energy use in that state, reports Scientific American; the observed drop in energy use of o.2 percent fell within the statistical margin of error.

But taken in aggregate, on a nationwide level, savings are realized through the use of DST. U.S. Department of Energy investigators found in 2008 that the four-week extension of daylight time saved about o.5 percent of the nation's electricity per day, or $1.3 trillion watt-hours. The findings covered not only residential use but commercial as well, according to the Scientific American report.

Not exactly a clear-cut conclusion as to benefits. Well, let's examine DST's effect on health. Surely there are more definitive answers there based on sound longitudinal study. Well, that again is a matter of perspective. The biannual shocks to circadian rhythms can't be a good thing, one might surmise, and one would be right.

"The time change is kind of a society-imposed jet lag," Dr. Ilene Rosen, who has served on the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and is board-certified in sleep medicine, told CNN.

Those Debbie Downers at Scientific American (um, we mean those dispassionate observers of scientific data at Scientific American) are more blunt. Depending on outlook, DST can either kill you or save your life.

According to the magazine, researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm examined myocardial infarction rates in Sweden since 1987 and found that the number of heart attacks rose roughly 5 percent during the first week of their DST. In the Oct. 30, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine, researchers attributed this rise to disruption in sleep patterns and biological rhythms.

But on the other side of the coin, the time shift may help prevent traffic accidents in enabling more people to drive home during sunlight hours. Analyzing nearly 30 years of U.S. automobile crash data, the RAND Corporation found in a study done in the '80s that DST produced an 8 percent to 11 percent drop in crashes involving pedestrians and a dip of up to 10 percent in crashes for occupants of vehicles.

So, yeah, talk about a mixed bag. And apologies for heightening your anxiety as you prepare to fall back. To make up for it, here are some helpful tips from CNN on how best to acclimate oneself to the imminent time shift:

• Don't stay up late

When you set the clocks back each fall, your circadian rhythms might prompt you to want to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier than your external environment, Rosen told CNN. "One of the biggest mistakes that people make ... is staying up later and thinking that they're going to get an extra hour of sleep," she said. Because your circadian rhythms may wake you early Sunday morning, it's important not to count on that extra snooze time, she added.

• Use the sun

Here's something positive: The fall time change is easier than the spring, Rosen said. This is particularly true for those who work standard daylight hours, since you're able to hack your sunlight exposure, CNN reports. "Try to get as much late afternoon sun exposure before switching the clocks back, and as much morning sun exposure as possible after switching the clocks to help ease the transition," the report reads.

• Take your time

"If you work a non-traditional schedule, or have a little extra time in the morning, it might ease the transition if you go to sleep and wake up 10-15 minutes later each day the week before the time change," says Rosen. Taking in a nap can help fend off drowsiness for those struggling with the switch back to standard time, CNN notes.

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