Why do we have daylight saving time
The Chamber of Commerce was an early supporter of extending post-workday natural light because it knew factory workers were more likely to go shopping following shift work if the sun was still shining. Later on, people were more likely to fill up the tank and head to sporting events or the mall, which to this day greatly benefits the oil industry.Because so much extra gas is sold during Daylight Saving Time, the lobby representing convenience stores—places that sell tons of gas—are among the biggest backers of keeping the time change intact.
Downing says the golf course industry also loves Daylight Saving Time because it's the one sport for which it still isn't economical to use artificial lighting to extend hours. "The golf industry makes about $200 to $400 million in extra greens fees during Daylight Saving Time," he notes.
While most of the country runs on Daylight Saving Time today, with the exception of Hawaii, a state with nearly equal day length year-round, and Arizona, which refuses to adopt it, things weren't always this uniform.
Initially adopted as a wartime-only policy, New York decided to bring Daylight Saving Time back after World War I and adopted a metropolitan Daylight Saving Time law for the city only in 1920. Cities ran on it, suburbs did not. "Because it was such a powerful influence on the economy, almost every city from Chicago eastward immediately adopts it," Downing says. By 1921, though, Massachusetts boasted the only statewide policy, leaving a patchwork of times across the country for the next 10 years. "Trains are unable to keep schedule; all transportation is thrown off by this," Downing explains. "By 1965, 100 million Americans are changing their clocks and 80 million are not."
Time changes are more consistent now, but that doesn't mean Daylight Saving Time wreaks any less havoc on our bodies. People already dealing with sleep problems, night-shift workers, and those living with Seasonal Affected Disorder, or SAD, are most likely to have a harder time bouncing back from the time change. Generally, pushing the clocks ahead an hour creates the same effect as crossing time zones, which is why Downing says Daylight Saving Time is the perfect time to plan a vacation, since your body's internal clock will be thrown off anyway.
Although temporarily punishing on our bodies, it's hard to deny the benefit of what feels like longer days, no matter which industry is benefiting financially. "Americans like the after-work available light hours. That's the key to Daylight Saving. People feel like it extends their summers," Downing says.
"Because we're so far north of the equator, people fall in love with Daylight Saving when they're given it. They get attached to it," he adds. Because of that, there have been very few successful efforts to get rid of it and, love it or hate it, Daylight Saving Time could be here to stay.
Read More: MSN
