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tristanj a day ago

Elaborate.

The intent of DST is to normalize variations in the time of sunrise between summer and winter.

Places closer to the equator have minimal variation in the time of sunrise between seasons. They don't need DST.

Higher latitudes have large variation (i.e. Seattle, where the time of sunrise shifts between 4am in summer to 8am in winter), so they benefit from DST or summer/winter hours.

DST is one of the simplest implementations of seasonal hours on a regional scale.

mbirth 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> The intent of DST is to normalize variations in the time of sunrise between summer and winter.

The intent of DST was to conserve energy by moving daylight into the evening hours. However, it turned out that people need light in the morning, too, and that DST had no effect on overall energy usage.

So, why not end this failed experiment and return to how it was before?

And please let's go with standard time, i.e. where the sun is at its highest point around the 12:00 o'clock mark.

Office hours are a lame excuse as most modern jobs - especially those of people on this site - surely allow flexible time. And even if not, every company is free to adjust office hours during the year - as it's already done in e.g. Turkey since they got rid of DST. Same with school hours, store opening hours, etc. - I'm pretty sure they will adjust where needed.

If you like disturbing your sleep cycle twice a year so much, feel free to change the wakeup time on your alarm clock whenever you wish.

(If it weren’t such a hassle with date changes, I'd vote for world-wide UTC, btw. And I'd love some unified decimal date/time system even more.)

reedf1 a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What people usually mean by abolishing DST is permanent summer hours. If your problem was sunrise timing, then problem solved - DST actually moves that earlier than you require twice a year for normal working hours (i.e. less sun in the evenings). Source: my own high latitude life.

tristanj a day ago | parent [-]

Abolishing DST for permanent summer hours don't address the winter sunrise issue.

Under permanent DST, the sun rises around 9 AM in December in Seattle. That's far too late. I, and millions of other people, do not want to wake up 2 hours before sunrise and drive to work in the dark.

Under the current system (DST reverts back during winter), sunrise is shifted an hour earlier to around 8AM, which is manageable. I don't have to drive to work in the dark.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/seattle

yubblegum a day ago | parent | next [-]

If the morning commute is the only issue, then it is likely that in the relatively near future (all things being equal) work life may revert back to its pre-automobile mode where your work was either at home or fairly close to your home. That may end DST.

reedf1 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I guess you're fine commuting home in the dark? But regardless, you can navigate without light an hour before sunrise.

a day ago | parent | prev [-]
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