Daylight Saving Time Isn't Worth It, European Parliament Members Say (arstechnica.com)

AmiMoJo shares a report from Ars Technica: Earlier this week, the European Parliament voted 384 to 153 to review whether Daylight Saving Time is actually worth it. Although the resolution it voted on was non-binding, the majority reflected a growing dissatisfaction with a system that has been used by the U.S., Canada, most of Europe, and regions in Asia, Africa, and South America for decades. The resolution asked the European Commission to review the costs and benefits of Daylight Saving Time. If the EU were to abolish Daylight Saving Time, it would need approval of the majority of EU member states and EU Parliament members.

"We think that there's no need to change the clocks," Ireland Member of European Parliament (MEP) Sean Kelly said to Deutsche Welle. "It came in during World War One, it was supposed to be for energy savings -- the indications are that there are very few energy savings, if any -- and there are an awful lot of disadvantages to both human beings and animals that make it outdated at this point."

Comments

Animals read clocks?

[righteousness]

I'm curious as to how daylight savings time is disadvantageous to animals.

Re:Animals read clocks?

[Calydor]

Deer, as an example, get used to roads being safe to cross until a certain point in the morning. All well and good, but suddenly that point shifts by an entire hour without any warning that the deer can perceive. Result: More animals hit by traffic.

Most animals live by their circadian rhythm. Wake up at a certain time, eat at a certain time, sleep at a certain time. For farm animals like cows and pigs, this fits into their daily routine as livestock. But suddenly everything shifts by an hour, resulting in anything ranging from confusion to stress. And for what? So the stores turn on their all-night LEDs at the same time they always do?

Parliament also voted to keep DST for now

[radi0man]

There were actually two resolutions on Daylight Saving Time. The other was about abolishing DST and was rejected: https://www.timeanddate.com/ne...

Restructure this whole world clock business

[ContextSwitch]

I've always thought that the use of time zones was a bit of an anachronism. Pick a longitude; the international date line is as good a place as any, and that sets the time and date for everyone on the planet.

So you end up going to work at 22:00 and return at 08:00 and it's all in the daylight, so what , these are just numbers. Travel planning will be simplified and so will arranging meetings where people join on-line from different time zones.

Shared schedules matter

[sjbe]

And having fixed standard work times is just as idiotic as the idea of daylight saving...

You've never tried to manage a business have you? There is a lot of benefit to having most companies work predictable schedules. Real, tangible, measurable, economic benefit. If you worked in a company like mine you'd find that it's really hard to run an assembly line without people showing up at the same time each day. Good luck running a hospital with people coming and going whenever they feel like it. Have fun running a restaurant when the waitstaff or cooks can come and go whenever.

Many of us have to deal with clients or suppliers in other countries who don't work at the same time anyway.

And far more of us do work with clients who are nearby and need to be able to interact with us on a predictable schedule. It is a LOT easier to arrange this if most businesses have roughly similar or highly predicable schedules.

Many businesses operate 24/7.

Many more do not. What is your point?