Daylight saving time 2013 is here and before you go to bed on Saturday night, it’s probably the best time to put your clocks ahead one hour. Even though ABC News on Friday, March 8, 2013 reminds you that daylight saving time doesn’t officially start until 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, most folks don’t stay up that late to spring their clocks ahead.
While the majority of the U.S. goes by the daylight saving time schedule, a few places leave their clocks alone, like Hawaii and most of Arizona. They keep the same time all year round. In the fall when the clocks are turned back an hour, people tend to rejoice as they get an extra hour of sleep that day. That's usually not the case in the fall when clocks spring ahead.
When it is time to spring ahead, this doesn’t sit as well because this is when you lose the hour. The daylight saving time change in the Spring seems to make way for a groggy work week for many folks, who are having a tough time getting up an hour earlier than they’re used to for work. Experts say this seems to last about a week until folks get used to the time change.
Did you know that the bi-annual time change is linked to an increase in heart attacks? According to the CBC News on Friday, studies show this is the case. The daylight saving time has also been linked to an increase in traffic accidents.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found about a seven percent increase in heart attacks in the first three weekdays after the clocks spring forward. The researchers believe this is due to lack of sleep. In the fall when the clocks drop back and give you an extra hour, a decrease in heart attacks are noted.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that “daylight time has a significant impact on the number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in the immediate aftermath of the switch in time."
Studies also suggest that people who suffer from insomnia have a tougher time with the clocks changing an hour than other folks. Judith Davidson, and adjunct assistant professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont, said this is because much of the treatment offered to an a person suffering with insomnia involves getting used to a regular sleep schedule. The daylight saving time change at both times of the year throws this off, she said.
Daylight saving time is used all around the world, but some countries or states within some countries opt to not change their time, like the majority of countries in Africa and Asia don’t use daylight saving time.
Don’t forget to change your clocks, you need to “spring ahead” an hour on Saturday night before you go to bed. This way when you wake up on Sunday, March 10, 2013, which is the official day of the daylight saving time change, your clocks will be reflecting the correct time.
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