The time has come and on March 12, many of us have lost an hour of sleep as our clocks spring ahead an hour. Before smartphones, we had to remind ourselves to change our clocks before going to bed and now technology does all of the work for us. So, let us tell you five facts that you can remind yourself for the next time change.
Thunder Bay was the first place in Canada to adopt daylight savings.
In 1908 Thunder Bay, Ont, started using daylight saving time. It wasn’t until 1916 when Winnipeg started to use daylight saving time, with other parts of Canada following shortly after.
Widespread use had a positive impact on the energy crisis.
Due to the Yom-Kippur War of 1973 and the Iranian Revolution of 1979, many countries across the world were unable to get oil to continue giving families energy for their homes. More countries began adapting to daylight saving time and with the extra hour of daylight people had, many people were using less power.
Pets notice the change in behaviour around the yearly time change.
Pets develop a predictable schedule and the most important thing to pets is mealtime and playtime with their owners. When our pets’ schedules change, like when we get up an hour later, their schedule is delayed. Pets notice this and it can cause stress until they develop a new schedule.
Some want it gone.
Many people argue that the practice of daylight saving is no longer needed. Researchers with the Canadian Society for Chronobiology believe that daylight saving increases the chances of car accidents, heart attacks, strokes and workplace injuries. They also blame daylight saving time for reducing our exposure to morning light. This is important for our biological clocks when it comes to waking up, becoming productive and the desire to be social.
There are many petitions in Canada that ask political leaders to end daylight saving time permanently, adapting standard time.
Takes a while to adjust to.
For some, it can take a few days to adjust to the change in our sleep schedules, but for others it can take up to three weeks. Our biological clocks help us with our metabolism, daily energy and our sleep schedules. When the time changes and we adapt to a new sleep schedule, it throws off our biological clocks temporarily and can often be compared to the feeling of jet lag.
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