Day Light Saving Time (DST)

 
               

Day Light Saving time also known as 'summer time' in British English is  a way of making good use of daylight by advancing forward or backward depending on the season of the year. The modern idea of daylight saving was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson and it was first implemented by Germany and Austria-Hungary starting on 30 April 1916. Many countries have used it at various times since then. 

The concept of daylight saving has been both favored and criticized. many find this concept as both a bane and boon.Adding daylight to evenings benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but can cause problems for evening entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun (such as farming) or to darkness (such as firework shows).But this idea was mainly proposed to save energy(less use of incandescent lamps) but this has not been efficient enough to achieve that.

Changing of clocks 

The clock moves ahead (= losing one hour) in the spring when DST starts, and falls back one hour (= gaining one hour) when DST ends in the fall. To remember which way the clock goes, keep in mind one of these sayings: “spring forward, fall back” or “spring ahead, fall behind.” the below pictorial representation shows an example but different regions may follow different timings.

                                      

                                       

Daylight saving Timings

Northern Hemisphere:

March–April and ends between September–November. Standard time begins in the northern hemisphere between September–November and ends between March–April.

Southern Hemisphere:

Daylight saving time begins in the southern hemisphere between September–November and ends between March–April. Standard time begins in the southern hemisphere between March–April and ends between September–November.

Challenges faced due to DST:

They complicate timekeeping, and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Software can often adjust computer clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST dates are changed.

History of DST:

Benjamin Franklin first suggested Daylight Saving Time in 1784, but modern DST was not proposed until 1895 when an entomologist from New Zealand, George Vernon Hudson, presented a proposal for a two-hour daylight saving shift to the Wellington Philosophical Society.

The conception of DST was mainly credited to an English builder, William Willett in 1905, when he presented the idea to advance the clock during the summer months. His proposal was published two years later and introduced to the House of Commons in February 1908. The first Daylight Saving Bill was examined by a select committee but was never made into a law. It was not until World War I, in 1916, that DST was adopted and implemented by several countries in Europe who initially rejected the idea.

List of countries which use DST

Daylight saving time by country as of December 2013

  Northern hemisphere summer

  Southern hemisphere summer

  Have never used DST

  Have used DST only in the past

These are the countries sorted by continents that observe daylight savings time as on 2010. 

Africa: Canary Islands, Madeira, Egypt, Morocco, and Namibia. 

North America: Most of Canada, most of the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, and Greenland. 

South America: Brazil, Chile, Falkland Islands, Paraguay, and Uruguay. 

Asia: Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, Syria, and Mongolia. 

Europe: All countries except Iceland. This includes Russia. 

Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and New Zealand