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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 cmdrklarg on Thursday October 31, @09:29PM (1 child)
For a while now it hasn't mattered, as all the equipment have lights on them so they can run at night if needed. Buildings with animals in them are all lighted as well. DST hasn't mattered to a farmer for a long time already.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by owl on Friday November 01, @01:06AM
DST never mattered to a farmer, ever. If the farmer raises animals, those animals have zero idea what "time" it is on the clock and instead need their appropriate tending when its needed, no matter what the big and little hand on the clock face say. I.e., the cows need to be milked when they need to be milked, and the cows can't tell time.
If the farmer raises plants, those plants also can't tell time, and if the farmer wants to maximize his/her illumination during the day for harvest, they are getting up at dawn, no matter where on the clock dial dawn happens to fall due to government decree.
The 'farmer' excuse for DST was always just that, an excuse told to non-farmers (city folk) if they grumbled about DST. Since 99.999% of the city folk would never set foot on a farm, they had no basis to question the narrative they were being fed.