In less than a week, residents across Illinois will change their clocks and “jump forward” as daylight saving time begins.

At 02.00 on Sunday 12 March, the clocks will jump directly to 03.00, different from the autumn time change when the clocks “fall back” to 01.00 at the end of summer time.

While legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent at the national level is deadlocked, the time change will happen this year regardless of any decisions regarding the legislation.

As you prepare to change the clock—and potentially lose an hour of sleep—here’s what you should know.

When does summer time start?

Under provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which amended the Uniform Time Act of 1966, daylight saving time will begin on the second Sunday in March, which in 2023 falls on March 12.

The time change will take place at 02.00 am

When does summer time end?

Summer time ends at 02.00 on 5 November 2023, in what is known as the annual “fall back”.

What is summer time?

Daylight saving time is a change of the clocks that usually begins in the spring and ends in the fall in what is often referred to as “jump forward” and “fall back.”

According to the terms of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, summer time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

On these days, the clocks change either one hour forward or backward.

But it wasn’t always like that.

The bells used to spring forward on the first Sunday in April and remain so until the last Sunday in October, but a change was partly put in place to allow children to trick-or-treat in more daylight.

In the United States, daylight saving time lasts for a total of 34 weeks, from early to mid-March to early November in states that observe it.

Some people like to credit Benjamin Franklin as the inventor of Daylight Savings Time when he wrote in a 1784 essay about saving light and said, “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, rich and wise.” But it was meant more as satire than a serious assessment.

Germany was the first to adopt daylight saving time on May 1, 1916 during World War I as a way to save fuel. The rest of Europe followed soon after.

The United States did not adopt daylight saving time until March 19, 1918. It was unpopular and abolished after World War I.

On February 9, 1942, Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round daylight saving time, which he called “wartime”. This lasted until 30 September 1945.

Daylight saving time did not become standard in the United States until the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which imposed standard time across the country within established time zones. It stated that the clocks would go forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in April and turn back one hour at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.

The states could still exempt themselves from summer time, as long as the entire state did so. In the 1970s, due to the 1973 oil embargo, Congress enacted a trial period of year-round daylight saving time from January 1974 to April 1975 to conserve energy.

What’s the deal with the Sunshine Protection Act?

Under legislation unanimously passed by the Senate last year known as the Sunshine Protection Act, seasonal clocks would be effectively eliminated in the United States, except for Hawaii and parts of Arizona.

Despite passing the Senate, the bill has stalled in the House, where it remained in committee until the end of the previous Congress.

Overall, thoughts on the potential shift vary.

The Sunshine Protection Act was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who proposed it would reduce crime, encourage children to play outside and reduce the risk of heart attacks and car accidents.

“There is strong science behind it that is now showing and making people aware of the harm that clock-changing is having,” Rubio said on the Senate floor in March, NBC News reported.

A 2020 study found that US traffic fatalities increased by 6% in the week after daylight savings time began. Other studies have found that the transition to summer time causes small increases in work injuries and medical errors in the days following the change. A 2019 study, meanwhile, found that the risk of heart attack increased in the week after the bells popped, although other research found no such increase.

However, the research in general is mixed, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports the opposite move to permanent standard time, as research shows that the body functions best with more sunlight in the morning.

“I have received calls from constituents who prefer permanent standard time because they have safety concerns for children who have to wait too long in the dark in the winter for the school bus,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, from Illinois’ 9th congressional district and a Democratic member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where the bill currently sits.

Schakowsky said she has also heard from voters who prefer longer daylight hours and, as a result, support permanent daylight saving time.

While the congresswoman said there doesn’t appear to be consensus among voters, she stated “we know the majority of Americans don’t want to keep changing their clocks back and forth.”

According to AASM, which is based in Illinois, standard time may be more in line with the body’s internal clock.

“The daily cycle of natural light and dark is the most powerful timing signal for synchronizing the body’s internal clock,” says the AASM. “When we receive more light in the morning and darkness in the evening, the body and nature are better aligned, making it easier to wake up for our daily activities and easier to fall asleep at night. Daylight saving time disrupts our internal clock, which leads to sleep loss and poor sleep quality, which in turn lead to negative health consequences.”

“More populous cities would also be affected by darker mornings – with permanent daylight saving time, sunrise would not occur until 8:20 a.m. in New York City in January. In Los Angeles, the January sunrise would be almost 8 a.m., and in Minneapolis, sunrise would be almost 9 a.m. .

Which states observe daylight saving time?

Almost all US states observe DST, with the exception of Arizona (although some Native American tribes observe DST in their territories) and Hawaii. US territories, including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, do not observe daylight saving time.

What is standard time?

According to the Time and Date website, standard time is the local time in a country or region when daylight saving time is not in use.

“More than 60% of countries in the world use standard time all year round,” the website states. “The remaining countries use daylight saving time during the summer months, usually setting their clocks forward one hour from standard time.”

According to the AASM, it is standard time that is more in line with the body’s internal clock.

“The daily cycle of natural light and dark is the most powerful timing signal for synchronizing the body’s internal clock,” says the Illinois-based organization. “When we receive more light in the morning and darkness in the evening, the body and nature are better aligned, making it easier to wake up for our daily activities and easier to fall asleep at night. Daylight saving time disrupts our internal clock, which leads to sleep loss and poor sleep quality, which in turn lead to negative health consequences.”

Which is better? Here’s what sleep experts say

Regardless of whether daylight saving time is made permanent or standard time takes over, Dr. Kathy Sexton-Radek, a consultant to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s Public Safety Committee and professor of psychology with a special interest in sleep medicine at Elmhurst College, said changing clocks can have negative effects on the body .

The shift can “distort or off-center the normal systems that trigger structures in our mind, in our brain, that tell us through hormone signals and brain chemistry when it’s time to be awake and when it’s time to sleep,” she told NBC Chicago earlier this year.

Such changes can cause mood swings, fatigue, trouble concentrating and more, Sexton-Radek said.

“Light is the most powerful time indicator of the human body clock,” Erin Flynn-Evans, who has a doctorate in health and medical sciences and is director of the NASA Ames Research Center Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory, said in a statement. “Changing to permanent daylight saving time in winter will lead to more darkness in the morning and more light in the evening, leading to a misalignment between the body’s daily rhythm and the timing of routine social obligations, such as work or school. It has the potential to make it more difficult for most people to fall asleep at night, disrupts sleep quality and leads to sleep loss, which can adversely affect health and safety.”

While the legislation currently on the table is to make daylight saving time permanent, the AASM says it is permanent standard time that should be adopted instead, with one reason being to ensure safety for morning commuters.

“For morning commuters and children on their way to school, dark mornings caused by permanent daylight saving time pose many safety concerns,” AASM says. “This will be especially problematic in the winter months when the days are getting shorter.”

“More darkness during early morning commutes can also contribute to an increased risk of fatal traffic accidents, according to studies,” the organization continues.

Sleep experts also claim that permanent daylight saving time will “disproportionately” affect people living in the northern part of the United States

“Some parts of Montana, North Dakota and Michigan would not see sunrise until after 9:30 a.m. during the winter months,” the AASM said, if the country adopted permanent daylight saving time.

“More populous cities would also be affected by darker mornings – with permanent daylight saving time, sunrise would not occur until 8:20 a.m. in New York City in January. In Los Angeles, the January sunrise would be almost 8 a.m., and in Minneapolis, sunrise would be almost 9 a.m. .

Sleep experts at the organization go on to say that seasonal time changes are generally unfavorable for health. According to the AASM, the changes have been linked to an increase in strokes, hospitalizations and cardiovascular events.

“One study found a reduction in the rate of cardiovascular events especially during daylight saving time, suggesting that the chronic effects of daylight savings time may lead to a higher risk of adverse health problems compared to standard time,” it said.

According to the Ministry of Transport, summer time has a number of advantages. DOT’s website highlights the following:

• It saves energy. In summer time, the sun sets one hour later in the evenings, so the need to use electricity for household lighting and white goods is reduced. People tend to spend more time outside in the evenings during daylight saving time, which reduces the need to use electricity in the home. Because the sunrise is very early in the morning during the summer months, most people will wake up after the sun has already risen, which means they turn on fewer lights in their homes.
• It saves lives and prevents traffic injuries. In summer, more people travel to and from school and work and carry out errands in daylight.
• It reduces crime. In summer time, more people are out doing their business in daylight instead of at night, when more crime happens.

Which is correct: summer time or summer time?

According to thesaurus.com, the correct answer is: daylight savings time.

“Daylight Savings Time (singular saving) is technically the correct version: the practice is to save daylight saving time,” the website states. “Nevertheless, DST (plural) is so commonly used that it has become an accepted variant of DST.”

Thesaurus.com says the “s” at the end of the sentence may have stuck because the plural form of “savings” is often used when referring to money — such as a savings account.

“Then there is the question of the hyphen,” the explanation continues, “some leave it out while others include it. We hyphenate because daylight saving together modifies the word time that follows directly.”