It’s time to retreat again.
When daylight saving time ends again, the clock will strike 1 a.m. twice on Sunday morning.
Here’s what you need to know about daylight saving time and why the United States changes its clocks twice a year.
When does daylight savings time end?
Daylight saving time begins on March 10th and ends on November 3rd.
Unlike in the spring when we lose an hour and the clocks skip 2 a.m. completely, on Sunday we gain an extra hour and the clocks move back from 1:59 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Additionally, as temperatures continue to drop and we move into late fall and winter, the sun will begin to set earlier across the United States.
Why is this happening?
The practice, established by the Standard Time Act of 1918, is an effort to delay sunset by an hour and extend the hours of daylight in the summer, according to the U.S. Bureau of Astronomical Applications.
Daylight saving time was a controversial idea after it was first passed, but it was quickly repealed in 1919 and became a regional issue. The bureau said it was recreated early in World War II and observed from 1942 to 1945.
After the war, daylight saving time implementation varied by state until the Uniform Time Act was passed in 1966. The act standardized Daylight Saving Time dates but allowed local exceptions if states and local governments did not wish to participate.
The standardized start and end dates have changed over the years, but since 2007, daylight saving time has started on the second Sunday in March and ended on the first Sunday in November, the agency said.
How long does standard time last?
Until spring arrives and daylight saving time begins again, standard time across the United States will remain the same, with earlier sunsets and darker nights.
In 2025, daylight savings time begins on Sunday, March 9th, ends on Sunday, November 2nd, and the same process repeats.
Are there any states that are not compliant?
Yes, according to the Bureau of Astronomical Applications, Hawaii and most parts of Arizona do not change their clocks twice a year because they do not observe daylight saving time.
Is the US the only country that does this?
No, according to the ministry, most countries use some version of “daylight saving time.” In the Northern Hemisphere, most countries that observe daylight saving time are in Europe and North America.
Other countries also implement daylight saving time, but not all countries do so on the same schedule as the United States.
According to the ministry, some countries in the southern hemisphere use some version of daylight saving time, but because the seasons change below the equator, the start and end dates of “daylight saving time” are opposite to our country.
According to the Pew Research Center, only about one-third of the nation observes daylight saving time. At one point, about half of the country observed this practice, but they no longer do so.
What efforts have been made to eliminate this practice?
In March 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act. This will make daylight saving time permanent throughout the year, ushering in an era of changing clocks.
Under the bill, Hawaii and most of Arizona would continue to observe standard time year-round.
However, the bill has since stalled in the House of Representatives, and the United States will continue to watch the clock change until the bill is passed by the House and signed by the sitting president.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, nearly every state is considering legislation to maintain standard or daylight saving time, and 20 states have passed legislation or resolutions to implement year-round daylight saving time in the past six years. However, federal law currently does not allow daylight savings time to be in place year-round, so states must wait for Congress to pass the change.
What do health experts say?
Some studies suggest that implementing daylight saving time throughout the year may reduce the number of road accidents and crime.
However, many experts do not support permanent daylight saving time. That’s because, according to sleep experts, the sun should reach its highest point in the sky at noon, known as solar time.
During Standard Time, people living in the Central Time Zone in the United States are perfectly aligned with solar time, but during Daylight Saving Time they drift further away from that clock.
The greater the discrepancy with solar time, the greater the risk of health problems, says John, a professor of neurology at Bay State University Massachusetts Chan College of Medicine and director of Save Standard Time, a nonprofit organization that advocates for a permanent standard time. said board member Dr. Karin Johnson. NBC News in 2022.
Sleep experts prefer moving clocks forward or backward over permanent daylight saving time. Waking up in the dark increases hormones like cortisol, which can make you feel more sleepy, says Dr. Kin Yuen, a sleep medicine expert at the University of California, San Francisco, and a fellow at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He said: In 2022, he said:
And because the sun comes out later, people go to bed later during daylight saving time, which can delay melatonin production in the body.
Additionally, a June 2022 study found that people whose clocks do not closely align with the sun have a 22% higher risk of traffic fatalities than those who live within 30 minutes of solar time. .
