Friday marks New York City’s last 6 p.m. sunset for the year, signalling the end of daylight saving and the start of shorter days and longer nights. Sunsets have been getting progressively earlier, and sunrises later, throughout the month.
On November 3rd, we’ll say goodbye to daylight saving time and return to standard time. Daylight saving began on March 10th, and despite attempts by Congress to make it permanent, no legislation has been passed, meaning we need to change our clocks again.
Under federal law, daylight saving time runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November across most of the United States. This year, the switch back to standard time happens on November 3rd at 2 a.m.
Daylight saving time will start again on March 9th, 2025.
Daylight saving time involves setting clocks forward in the spring (“spring forward”) and backward in the fall (“fall back”). The Energy Policy Act of 2005 states that daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Clocks are moved by one hour in either direction. However, this practice has changed over the years.
Previously, clocks were moved forward on the first Sunday in April and back on the last Sunday in October. This change was partly made to allow children to trick-or-treat in daylight. Daylight saving time now lasts for 34 weeks, from early to mid-March until early November, in participating states.
While Benjamin Franklin satirically suggested saving candles by waking up and going to bed earlier, Germany was the first country to adopt daylight saving time in 1916 during World War I to save fuel. The United States adopted it in 1918 but repealed it after the war. It wasn’t until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that standardized time zones and daylight saving time became mandatory nationwide.
Almost all U.S. states observe daylight saving time, except for Arizona and Hawaii. U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, also don’t participate.
Standard time is the local time used when daylight saving time isn’t in effect. Globally, over 60% of countries use standard time year-round, while the rest use daylight saving time during summer months. Standard time is thought to be more in sync with the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends a permanent switch to standard time, citing evidence of negative health effects linked to seasonal time changes. They believe that permanent standard time is best for human biology and public health.
Conversely, the Department of Transportation argues that daylight saving time has several benefits, including energy savings, fewer traffic accidents and deaths, and lower crime rates because of longer daylight hours. They say that later sunsets reduce electricity use, more daylight hours improve road safety, and longer daylight discourages criminal activity.