Changeover to daylight saving time
–
Clocks advanced one hour again
The double changing of the clocks annoys many people every year, at the weekend it was that time again. The now traditional debate about the time change had to give way to other topics this spring.
Early on Sunday morning (March 27), in Germany and most European countries, the hands were put back from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., so the night was an hour shorter than usual. With the start of summer time, it stays light longer in the evenings.
In view of the war and crises, the recurring debate about the meaning and purpose of this measure seems to have come to an almost complete halt this spring. The physicist Andreas Bauch from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, which is responsible for transmitting the legal time in Germany, shares this impression. There are no perceptible politicians’ voices and the usual inquiries to his authority were largely absent, said Bauch of the German Press Agency.
Survey: Almost three quarters consider the changeover to be superfluous
Summer time was introduced in Germany in 1980 – to save energy. The idea behind this was that less lighting and therefore less electricity would be consumed if the day “shifts” forward by an hour. However, critics have always argued that the time change does not fulfill its original purpose. Energy saving effects are hardly detectable.
People in Germany are no longer enthusiastic about the time change. This is also confirmed by a Forsa survey for the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit, which was published last Monday. Almost three quarters of the people in Germany said they thought the time change was superfluous. Accordingly, 72 percent of the approximately 1,000 respondents think that the change from winter to summer time should be abolished. Only 23 percent think turning the clock makes sense.
The main arguments against the time change are health problems and complicated changes, for example in traffic and agriculture. 27 percent of those who took part in the survey stated that they had had health problems as a result of the time change. Most referred to tiredness and lethargy, to sleep disorders, lack of concentration and depressive moods.
initiative of the European Parliament faded away
The end of the changeover seemed already sealed: the European Parliament had decided in 2019 to abolish it again from 2021. However, there is no unanimous opinion among the member states as to whether summer or standard time should prevail permanently. The topic has been on hold for a few years. The current French Council Presidency recently announced that it has no plans to put the issue on the agenda. France will hold the rotating presidency of the EU countries until the end of June.
However, many countries outside Europe have abolished the changeover or are striving to do so. In the United States, for example, the Senate recently voted to make daylight saving permanent. If approved in the House of Representatives, this would go into effect in November 2023. However, it is unclear whether there would be a majority for it and whether US President Joe Biden would sign a corresponding law.
No technical problems
From a purely technical point of view, the time change is unproblematic. The atomic clocks of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig are the clocks that keep time in Germany. The signals are transmitted via transmitters, through which the radio clocks automatically adapt to the time change. The time change is now also routine for Deutsche Bahn.
Broadcast: Inforadio, March 26, 2022, 9:47 a.m