Daylight Saving Begins This Weekend
Longer evenings and an extra hour of daylight are not too far away.
Every year, the second Sunday of March marks daylight saving time. This year, we'll spring forward at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14.
According to USA Today, the U.S. first implemented daylight saving during World War I as a way to conserve fuel as part of the Standard Time Act of 1918, also known as the Calder Act.
In 1966, the Uniform Time Act was enacted to establish a system of uniform daylight saving time throughout the U.S. and its possessions. The federal law came to be because of the random way states had been observing daylight saving up until the act was passed.
Under the Uniform Time Act, states either have to change the clocks to daylight saving time at a specified time and day or stick with standard time throughout the year.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is the federal agency responsible for overseeing daylight saving and the country’s time zones.
The majority of the country will move their clocks forward one hour from standard time until it's time to fall back later in the year; this year, daylight saving ends on Sunday, November 7.
While most of the country follows daylight saving protocol, there are some exceptions.
All states observe daylight saving time besides Hawaii and Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, which does observe daylight saving).
In addition, the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not observe daylight saving time.
While some people love the extra daylight - especially as the weather gets warmer - others are not entirely on board with the twice-a-year time change.
The National Conference of State Legislatures says in the last four years, 15 states have enacted legislation or passed a resolution to make daylight saving time or standard time year-round. A full year of daylight saving is currently not allowed by federal law and would require an act of Congress to make the change.
The only power individual states or territories have under the Uniform Time Act is to opt out of daylight saving time, putting them on standard time permanently - like the exception states and territories mentioned above have done.
So, how much daylight does "daylight saving" actually save? No one is sure exactly how much daylight is actually "saved," though the laws of physics indicate none, says USA Today. That's because, although it might stay lighter out, the amount of daylight in a given day doesn't actually change.
On the latter, a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation found that daylight saving reduced electricity use by 1 percent. In retrospect, there is a lack of evidence that supports whether or not daylight saving really does have a positive or negative effect on energy use.
Regardless of what your stance is on daylight saving, just remember to set your clocks ahead by one hour before going to bed this Saturday night (Mar. 13).