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DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

Are we gaining or losing an hour with the end of Daylight Saving Time?

As the autumn solstice continues to roll in, Daylight Savings Time will soon come to an end... What does this mean for our clocks?

Update:
El Daylight Saving Time 2023 se acerca. Te explicamos cuándo comienza el horario de verano y cuándo hay que cambiar los relojes este año.
Brian SnyderReuters

On November 5th, 2023, most US states will be setting their clocks back one hour. This means that you will gain an additional hour of sleep. For example, if you usually wake up at 8 a.m., your new wake-up time will be 9 a.m. on November 5th. However, it is important to note that this change may make you late for any plans you have for that day.

The shift is always done on the weekend to limit the amount of disruption caused.

Legislation has been passed in the Senate to permanently end the practice through the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end Daylight Saving Time. However, it was not passed in the House of Representatives during the legislative period necessary to become law. In recent days, a bipartisan group of Senators, who rarely agree on policy, have come forward asking for another vote on the bill to take place so that DST can be eliminated once and for all.

Residents in some states will not be changing their clocks

There have been calls across the US to end the practice of changing the hours twice a year, for the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. Nineteen states have introduced legislation to do away with the twice-yearly switch, but the authority to do so has been reserved by the Department of Transportation since 1966.

The only parts of the US that do not have DST are sections of Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

Arizona experimented with the change beginning in 1918 but decided to opt out of the Daylight Savings Time in 1968 permanently. Although the state observes Standard Time, the Navajo Nation, a Native American territory in the northeast of the state, which also crosses over into New Mexico and Utah, does make the twice-a-year time shift.

Thanks to their position near the equator, Hawaii, along with the other US territories in the Pacific and Puerto Rico. Since they are close enough to the equator that there is no significant difference in sunrise and sunset times across the year, there are no benefits from changing the hour.

Does the European Union practice Daylight Savings Time?

Yes. The European Union member states change their clocks one week before the United States, meaning that for a short period, the time difference between the two areas is one hour less than it is typically.