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Since 1986, daylight savings time in the US has begun on the first Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October (at least in those portions of the US that observe daylight savings time). That's about to change. Starting this year, daylight savings time will begin (in those parts of the US that do this) on the second Sunday in March (i.e., March 11 this year), and will continue until the first Sunday in November (i.e., Nov. 4). This change was buried in an energy bill passed by Congress back in 2005, and was barely noticed until recently, when the tech people suddenly realized the need to reprogram all the computers and machines that are currently programmed to change the time on the first Sunday in April.
The change was justified as a way to save energy by allowing more business to be carried out during daylight hours, but I have to wonder if the money saved in energy will offset the costs of modifying all our automated systems to change time on the proper dates. The airline industry is also complaining about the costs of adjusting all the flight schedules for the last three weeks of March. However, the later change back to standard time does mean that it will be light an hour later on Halloween, which should make it a bit safer for the kids out trick-or-treating that evening.
[via The Washington Post]
The change was justified as a way to save energy by allowing more business to be carried out during daylight hours, but I have to wonder if the money saved in energy will offset the costs of modifying all our automated systems to change time on the proper dates. The airline industry is also complaining about the costs of adjusting all the flight schedules for the last three weeks of March. However, the later change back to standard time does mean that it will be light an hour later on Halloween, which should make it a bit safer for the kids out trick-or-treating that evening.
[via The Washington Post]
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