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from the sun-is-the-same-in-a-relative-way dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
A group of researchers in the UK affiliated with the BSS (British Sleep Society) published a paper this week calling for the permanent abolition of Daylight Saving Time (DST) and adherence to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in large part because modern evidence suggests having that extra hour of sunlight in the evenings is worse for our health than we thought back in the 1970s when the concept was all the rage in Europe.
Not only does GMT more closely align with the natural day/light cycle in the UK, the boffins assert, but decades of research into sleep and circadian rhythms have been produced since DST was enacted that have yet to be considered.
The human circadian rhythm, the 24-hour cycle our bodies go through, drives a lot about our health beyond sleep. It regulates hormone release, gene expression, metabolism, mood (who isn't grumpier when waking up in January?), and the like. In short, it's important. Messing with that rhythm by forcing ourselves out of bed earlier for several months out of the year can have lasting effects, the researchers said.
According to their review of recent research, having light trigger our circadian rhythms in the mornings to wake us up is far more important than an extra hour of light in the evenings. In fact, contrary to the belief that an extra hour of light in the evenings is beneficial, it might actually cause health problems by, again, mucking about with the human body's understanding of what time it is and how we ought to feel about it.
"Disruption of the daily synchronization of our body clocks causes disturbances in our physiology and behavior … which leads to negative short and long-term physical and mental health outcomes," the authors said.
That, and we've just plain fooled ourselves into thinking it benefits us in any real way.
[...] And for the love of sleep, the researchers beg, don't spring forward permanently.
"Mornings are the time when our body clocks have the greatest need for light to stay in sync," said Dr Megan Crawford, lead author and senior lecturer in psychology at University of Strathclyde. "At our latitudes there is simply no spare daylight to save during the winter months and given the choice between natural light in the morning and natural light in the afternoon, the scientific evidence favors light in the morning."
(Score: 2) by owl on Thursday October 31 2024, @02:16AM (2 children)
Because those politicians were not around when we tried permanent DST and don't intuitively "get" the downsides. They just see it as "why not have an extra hour of daylight every evening of every day of the year?".
One winter on DST and they will wise up fast.
(Score: 2) by aafcac on Thursday October 31 2024, @03:25AM (1 child)
If last time is any indication, we'll put up with that hell for one year, before all the states adopt permanent standard time. Then again, we have a lot of niceties now that they didn't last time they tried, so it's not quite a sure thing. My money is on one hellish winter before the matter resolves to permanent standard time though.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by owl on Thursday October 31 2024, @09:52PM
That's my belief as well. The idiot politicians will go the "DST year round" route thinking the "extra hour in evening" is a good thing.
Then, one winter season on DST will rapidly have the pitchforks and torches out for those same politicians such that the actual settlement (assuming they settle on dropping the "changing twice a year" in the first place) will end up being on "standard time" year round.