Editorial: Daylight saving forever would keep the summer vibe all year

Editorial

EDITORIAL:

Daylight saving is something everyone has an opinion about.

People may feel more or less supportive of it depending on whether they prefer to wake early or sleep in.

Some people gripe about the twice-a-year change and having to adjust both their physical and body clocks. These days, computers and phones automatically take care of a lot of the former switching.

Other people just like having extra time in the evening to do summertime things. Daylight saving means many people can use sunshine hours in summer that they would ordinarily sleep through if standard time was still applied.

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But what if there was no need for change, what if there could be daylight saving all year round?

The United States is considering whether to make it permanent there.

Daylight saving helps people take advantage of good weather. Photo / Greg Bowker, File

Last week, legislation called the Sunshine Protection Act passed the Senate. If it passes the House of Representatives and is signed by President Joe Biden, it would take effect from November 2023.

In New Zealand, the normal summer end to daylight saving will occur two weeks from today, on Sunday April 3 when clocks go back an hour. It starts again on September 25.

About 70 countries use the system, which began during World War I to cut lighting so the military could save fuel.

New Zealand started it in 1927. After a gap following World War II, it was reintroduced in 1975 and the period of daylight saving was later extended.

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In both New Zealand and the US, daylight saving was last drawn out in 2007. A survey the following year found that 82 per cent of Kiwis approved of that extension and 90 per cent approved of daylight saving.

Daylight saving is something of an organising diary for our lives, pushing things such as after-work exercise, barbecues, and drinks on the porch to a wind-down time when the temperature is slightly cooled but it's still sunny. With more hybrid working patterns and a warming climate, could more flexible hours and afternoon siestas become more common?

Having year-round daylight saving would mean darker mornings but more useful time for people in the early evening, especially in a society like New Zealand's where the outdoors is important for many.