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Sleep Experts Make the Case Against Daylight Saving Time
Smithsonian ^ | 09/02/2020 | Nora McGreevy

Posted on 09/03/2020 8:11:43 AM PDT by BenLurkin

For decades, many Americans have fiddled with their clocks each March and November as they “spring forward” or “fall back” to keep pace with daylight saving time (DST). Experts have historically claimed that the practice, which has roots in late 19th century and was widely instituted in 1966, benefits society by extending our sunlit hours and saving energy costs, although many others have called those benefits into question, as Amanda Kooser reports for CNET.

Last week, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) entered the debate, calling for the end of DST-related time-changes altogether. Instead, AASM leaders wrote in a statement in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the country should abolish seasonal time changes in favor of a “fixed, national, year-round standard time.”

“Permanent, year-round standard time is the best choice to most closely match our circadian sleep-wake cycle,” M. Adeel Rishi, lead author on the AASM report and a Mayo Clinic sleep specialist, says in an accompanying statement. “Daylight saving time results in more darkness in the morning and more light in the evening, disrupting the body’s natural rhythm.”

The body’s circadian rhythms, per the National Institute of Health, are the physical, mental and behavioral changes that drive human’s health—otherwise known as one’s “biological clock,” that tells most humans to wake up with the sun and sleep when it goes down. AASM leaders argue that changing to standard time would help align peoples’ social clocks—for instance, when they’re expected to be at work—with their biological ones.

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: benjaminfranklin; circadianrhythms; circadianrythem; daylightlosingtime; daylightsavingstime; godsgravesglyphs; sleep
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To: WASCWatch

The older I’ve gotten, the longer it is taking me to get used to the change. It takes me about a week these days.


41 posted on 09/03/2020 9:03:41 AM PDT by FamiliarFace
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To: Monkey Face

Well I don’t know about more important, but certainly easier to resolve.


42 posted on 09/03/2020 9:05:10 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

Pick a time and stick with it year round.


43 posted on 09/03/2020 9:10:41 AM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: BenLurkin

I probably should have done “tongue-in-cheek” emoji, but I don’t know how. ;o]


44 posted on 09/03/2020 9:13:48 AM PDT by Monkey Face ("I'm not buying a 2021 calendar until I see the trailer." ~~ Stolen goods from Covenantor ~~)
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To: FamiliarFace

Right. I think that probably would happen if we didn’t change. (Maybe I’ll check what goes on in Arizona, since it never changes.) But from my own experience, the changes help us to manage the hours of daylight so they are there when we need or desire them.


45 posted on 09/03/2020 9:13:53 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.)
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To: BenLurkin

Millions of Americans work 2nd shift or 3rd shift.They adapt to those sleep patterns.

Ending daylight savings time is a false flag.


46 posted on 09/03/2020 9:40:08 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: WASCWatch

I agree with FamiliarFace. The changes hit me real hard and I wish we could settle on daylight savings time year round.


47 posted on 09/03/2020 9:40:51 AM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

The change twice per year doesn’t bother me much-I alternately worked 1st and 2nd shifts for a number of years-but I’ve always disliked the earlier darkness in Winter, especially during the week because of work-also because I’m an early riser and an outdoor person...

I’m all for daylight savings time being kept all year-in Winter, that extra hour of daylight is welcome-especially for work-and I love long Summer evenings for outdoor activities, too


48 posted on 09/03/2020 12:07:37 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: SunkenCiv

What kind of expert? Oh! Look it’s Captain Obvious!


49 posted on 09/03/2020 12:08:46 PM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deo et Vives)
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To: Texan5

Same here. I’ve heard of people around me complain of feeling the changes, but I guess I’m just biologically flexible. My cousin told me her dog is “off” for a while on its meal and treat times after a change, but mine isn’t. At 3 p.m., she comes for her food, CST or CDT.


50 posted on 09/03/2020 12:12:05 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.)
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To: cuban leaf

I live near some of the nations largest dairy farms. Today they run 24hrs/day and 365/year. The sun has nothing to do with it, the cows know what time it really is regardless of what you do to the clock.


51 posted on 09/03/2020 2:25:51 PM PDT by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
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To: FamiliarFace

Me too and Im not much farther north than he is (there are multiple markers across the state for “you are now half way from the equator to the North Pole.)”


52 posted on 09/03/2020 2:29:12 PM PDT by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
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To: BenLurkin
“Daylight saving time results in more darkness in the morning and more light in the evening, providing extra time after work for outdoor chores or play that typically are not done in the morning, before work.

Year round DST.

53 posted on 09/03/2020 7:56:07 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Love me, love my guns!)
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