Clocks will soon change to Daylight Saving Time, but in some states they won’t

Are you ready to embrace daylight saving time? The clocks will change soon, but not in some states.

Daylight Saving Time 2024 ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 3rd. Computers, televisions, cell phones and other digital devices will automatically update at this time, but most people will have to reset their clocks manually (unless they are digital). ) a full hour the evening before (on Saturday, November 2nd).

Daylight saving time, also known colloquially as “summer time,” begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. We always “jump forward” (lose an hour) when Daylight Saving Time begins and “fall back” (gain an extra hour) when it ends.

But some states don’t change their clocks at all.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Arizona (except the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They observe standard time year-round, while other states (including New York) observe standard time for half the year and daylight saving time for the other half.

Despite some confusion in recent years, residents of New York and other states still have to change their clocks twice a year. The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill called the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, but it was never introduced in the House of Representatives after lawmakers could not agree on maintaining standard time or making daylight saving time permanent. Similar bills have been introduced in the New York Legislature to end the time change in the Empire State, but no progress has been made.

Daylight saving time was first introduced during World War I to save fuel for the war industry. The law was repealed after the end of World War I, but was reinstated by Congress during World War II due to energy consumption, and became United States law in 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act, establishing uniform start and end times within Zones set according to standard time. The policy, regulated by the Department of Transportation, aims to save energy and reduce car accidents and crime.

But according to USA Today, Hawaii does not observe time changes due to its proximity to the equator, meaning daylight hours change little throughout the year. Arizona also did not adopt the Uniform Time Act because setting sunset an hour later during the hottest months of the year was not ideal for the state’s desert climate.

Some health experts say eliminating daylight saving time (or making it permanent) in other states would be a “bad idea.” A neurologist and spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said not changing the clocks would make most people in America feel like they are suffering from “permanent jet lag.”

One of the advantages of the time change is that the days become longer in summer and sunset only occurs after 8 p.m. In winter, when the days are shorter, children can get to school bus stops more easily. For example, making daylight saving time permanent means sunrise occurs at 8:15 a.m. on the first day of winter, while turning back the clocks sets sunrise at around 7:15 a.m. on December 21st.

After World War II, daylight saving time was retained because Americans believed that if they extended summer daylight into the evening, they would use less energy. However, a 2008 Department of Energy study found that daylight saving time only reduces annual energy consumption by 0.03 percent, and another study from the University of California-Santa Barbara found that daylight saving time could actually increase energy consumption.

Despite the controversy, officials see this as a good opportunity to remind Americans to replace the batteries in their smoke detectors as we move into daylight saving time. The New York State Firemen’s Association says 60 percent of home fire deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms.