Its only 6pm!!! Would anyone else like to join me in a petition to end the TIME CHANGE! This article in the LA TIMES was interesting . - The Monday following the time change is one of the most dangerous days of the year -- and the onset of daylight saving time is to blame. Though it began on Sunday, researchers have found the most acute effects occur on the first Monday after clocks spring forward. Thats when about one-fifth of the world’s population is forced to get up and go to school or work one hour earlier than their bodies are used to. (Unlike on Sunday, theres no option to just sleep in.) Losing a single hour may seem trivial in the scheme of things, but medical researchers have spent a good amount of time investigating some of the health consequences of switching to daylight saving time. Here are some of the things they have learned: * Heart attacks are more likely in the first week after we spring forward. After examining nationwide data on hospital admissions to coronary care units in Sweden, researchers found that the incidence of acute myocardial infarctions was 3.9% higher than usual in the first week after daylight saving time took effect. The risk was even greater for people already taking heart medicines. * Traffic accidents are 8.6% more common on the first Monday of daylight saving time. * A more recent study based on 21 years worth of accident data from the U.S. concluded that theres a significant increase in fatal crashes on that first Monday. * Workplace accidents are more common -- and more severe -- on the Monday after switching to daylight saving. * The disruption to normal sleep rhythms was blamed for an uptick in suicides among Australian men in the first weeks after daylight saving time begins. Small changes in chronobiological rhythms are potentially destabilizing in vulnerable individuals, * Increased sleepiness on the first Monday after switching to daylight saving time leads to a dramatic increase in cyberloafing behavior (i.e. surfing the Web when you should be getting work done) * The transition hits hardest for night owls, and it can take up to three weeks for them to adjust to the new time. * Perhaps the solution is to simply stay on daylight saving time all year. A 2004 report in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention calculated that doing so would provide enough extra daylight to avert hundreds of fatal car crashes. Specifically, it said, 195 fewer drivers and passengers and 171 fewer pedestrians would die each year. Brief history on day light sayings .The real reasons for daylight savings time are quite logical. The main reason for daylight savings time is to make good use of daylight and save energy. In the summer, our clocks are moved forward to extend an hour of daylight to the evening. As the Germans discovered, energy is saved when the clocks are shifted. The idea is that if the sun is out longer than normal, people will use natural light and turn on their home lights later. Therefore, less electricity will be used. In 1975, a study was done by the US Department of Transportation that estimated DST would decrease the countrys electricity consumption by 1% from March to April. One year later, other sources said that this reduction was insignificant. This is due to the fact that many people used air conditioning and other home appliances while they were home. Also, those who woke up early in the morning consumed lots of energy because there was less sunlight in the morning. Just saying. People are dying now. Lets just do away with it
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 02:07:42 +0000
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