Kiae Kotas MYP1 English Charmander Class Argument Essay March 3, 2021 Should Daylight Savings Exist? Did you know that Daylight Savings can actually cause negative effects on your body physically and mentally? It was made popular by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 when he proposed using Daylight Savings Time (or DST) to save money, lamp oil, and candles. However, the standard measurement of time was first invented by George Hudson in 1895 and was formally adopted in 1918. Daylight Savings was invented so that people could have more time to enjoy the sunlight. This was a great help to many farmers who needed the extra daylight to help their crops thrive, work in the fields, and harvest. Daylight Savings is not only outdated, but it wastes some of our natural resources. The practice of Daylight Savings time should be discontinued because the original purpose for Daylight Savings is outdated and no longer serves its purpose, it disrupts our bodies and everyday rhythms, and we are using more energy and money every year on making Daylight Savings happen. The original purpose for Daylight Savings Time was to provide farmers more daylight and to save money on candles and lamp oil. These reasons are now very outdated and don’t have much of a purpose now. Also, DST was to allow farmers to take advantage of longer hours of sunlight in the months between March to November. This was the reason George Hudson invented Daylight Savings. Benjamin Franklin agreed with this, but he also started DST to save money on candles and lamp necessities. If you think about the present, however, you will notice that we no longer depend on candles, and now people don’t have to farm their own crops as their only source of food. Daylight Savings interrupts everyday rhythms, taking a major toll on our bodies. According to a study conducted by scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden in 2008, there was an upward trend in cases of heart attacks by around 24 percent the Monday after all the clocks were set forward for DST each year. When in August the clocks were again set back to “normal” the trend noticeably descended. Also, Daylight Savings time is actually taking away 1 hour of sleep and can be described as jet lag. Daylight Savings should not exist because there have been studies that show the human body isn’t able to fully switch to a different time increment in a single day. Some people think not everybody is affected by DST - which is true, not everyone is. Although, everybody is affected as a whole. Many medical reports and studies have gotten results of more car crashes, heart attacks, and higher risks of insomnia. Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states that do not participate in DST. However, Arizona and Hawaii-based businesses still have to adjust to accommodate mainland communication and business. This shows that DST can definitely be the blame for health issues once the clock is set back. Every year the US decides to continue Daylight Savings, we are using up more energy and money in doing so. Many employees go to work after the clocks have changed, and they’re often just not in the right mindset. The time change has been said to reduce productivity levels. Christopher Barnes, an assistant professor at the University of Washington says that there are many short-term effects on the Monday after DST starts. Because of this fatigue and productivity levels dropping, it takes around 433 million dollars a year to pay workers and employees for more shifts, etc just because of this reason. Also, DST greatly affects our natural resources and energy. One main purpose was to save resources with DST when it was proposed - but now we’re not saving much of anything. How are we not saving? We essentially have an extra hour of the day to get things done. We are actually balancing out our use of electricity and water with the time we have in the morning versus the night. A study by Edison Research, a media researching company that conducts many polls, found that 23% of 1,500 people are awake by 6:30 when it’s still relatively dark. Because many people are awake, many need to use a lot of electricity. According to Live Science, a website dedicated to answering science-related and health questions, we only save around 1 percent of our energy consumption a year during DST. Overall, most evidence shows that DST isn’t helping us save our natural materials and money. I think we should stop participating in the practice of Daylight Savings. It affects everyone in one way or another, from taking tolls on our bodies, wasting resources and money, and Daylight Savings’ purpose is outdated and no longer needed. Besides this evidence of why DST should be discontinued, we are still using a lot of our natural resources. Even if you live in Hawaii or Arizona, you can still help by turning off unnecessary lights, trying to take shorter showers, and just being mindful of everything around us. These are three reasons why Daylight Savings is no longer needed, and how it is negatively affecting ourselves and our community. Works Cited American Heart Association News. “Can Daylight Saving Time Hurt the Heart? Prepare Now for Spring.” Www.heart.org, 2018, www.heart.org/en/news/2018/10/26/can-daylight-saving-time-hurt-the-heart-prepare-now -for-spring. “Daylight Saving Time: Clock-Shifts Affect Risk of Heart Attack.” ScienceDaily, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081030075647.htm. Accessed 9 Mar. 2021. Lazovick, Meg. “WAKE ME UP: What Time Do Americans Start Their Day? - Edison Research.” Edison Research, 26 Mar. 2015, www.edisonresearch.com/wake-me-up-series-2/. Rampton, John. “How Daylight Savings Time Affects Productivity.” Entrepreneur, 26 Nov. 2019, www.entrepreneur.com/article/342334#:~:text=The%20daylight%20savings%20time%20 change. Accessed 9 Mar. 2021. src="https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/44925Dempsey.jpg?fit=50, et al. “Here’s How Much Money Daylight Saving Time Costs the United States.” Reader’s Digest, 26 Feb. 2020, www.rd.com/article/how-much-money-daylight-saving-time-costs-the-u-s. Accessed 9 Mar. 2021.
