Natural Time

Humans are diurnal.  We naturally organize our waking hours around daylight hours, with AM (ante meridiem) and PM (post meridiem) orientation to our activities.  The meridiem—midday, or noon, the time during which the sun appears to be most centrally overhead—creates a natural point around which to organize our waking activities.  This is not just “convenient;” our brains and neurological systems, our hormonal systems, and perhaps uppermost in our minds today, our immune systems, are also entrained by sunlight and our relationship to it.  Artificial light, far from providing all the same benefits, often creates problems with these natural systems.  We are healthiest when we keep our diurnal schedule oriented around what the sun is actually doing with relationship to where we are on the Earth.                                                                                                           

Hazards of Artificial Jet Lag

Changing the designation of time twice each year essentially creates an artificial “jet lag” for the entire population.  While it may seem that it is just “adjusting the clocks one hour,” and therefore “no big deal,” the effects of suddenly shifting everyone to a schedule that is one hour ahead or behind are well documented.  Fatal accidents and heart attacks occur at higher rates, especially at the spring change to “Daylight Savings Time.”  Sleep disruption persists for up to a week or more each time clocks are changed, no matter the direction.  Sleep disruption is a major contributor to accidents and physical and mental health issues.  All these risks are so well documented that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has a firm position that “Daylight Savings Time” should be abolished, in favor of a fixed, year-round Standard Time—Natural Time.
https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/full/10.5664/jcsm.8780

Permanent standard time is also endorsed by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians, many other sleep study organizations,  the National Safety Council, the National PTA and other advocates for school children, and is supported by environmental data that shows that “Daylight Savings Time” increases energy consumption and pollution by increasing morning heating, evening air conditioning, and evening driving.

Currently, Arizona, Hawaii, and all the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands all avoid these hazards by observing permanent Standard Time.

Permanent “Daylight Savings Time” Has Detrimental Effects

The detriments of “Daylight Savings Time” are clearly not outweighed by benefits.  Till Roenneberg and colleagues [Roenneberg, Till; Winnebeck, Eva C.; Klerman, Elizabeth B. (August 7, 2019). "Daylight Saving Time and Artificial Time Zones – A Battle Between Biological and Social Times". Frontiers in Physiology. 10: 944.] found that permanent “Daylight Savings Time” increases rates of disease and accidents, and decreases work productivity and earned wages.  For these reasons and more, multiple European sleep and biological rhythms biomedical research groups have released statements in opposition of “Daylight Savings Time” and in support of permanent Standard Time.

Call For Action:

We call for the Florida legislature to join with Arizona and the territories, in alignment with sleep, safety, health, and children’s advocacy organizations, to make last Fall’s “time change” the last one EVER.  Please keep us on natural, Standard Time from here on out, and continue to make Florida an ever more healthy, thriving place to live.

Please sign, share, and encourage others to do so.  Thank you!