How to increase the value of your home
Agnieszka Kijonka
‘Building Brands’
Rita Soares
Clocks Changing or Changing Times
António Bagão Félix
Economist
Once again, time does
its dance. This time preceded by a European public consultation asking whether
to keep the current Standard Time (ST) with the usual Western European Summer
Time (WEST) or to keep the ST of the winter period (which is the default
standard time) throughout the entire year.
I have always preferred the ST that is closer to the Solar Time, that is to say, the time when the noon we have on the clock and the solar or real noon (the moment the Sun passes through the local meridian) are closest, meaning, the time when, in truth, we are running on time. And this is best achieved by means of change twice a year, thus reducing the divergence between the law of nature and the legal law.
The Lisbon Astronomical Observatory, a legal authority in this field, has produced a very clear and objective scientific report on the subject, which concludes that the best solution for ST is the current one. All alternatives are worse: a) with the current ST, but without WEST, the summer sun would come up around 5:00 AM, that is to say, a dawn of unused sun followed by an end of afternoon with one hour less sun; b) with the current ST + 1 hour and without WEST, the sun would come up between 7:45 AM and 9:00 AM (!) for five months of the year, from mid-October to mid-March; c) with ST + 1 hour and WEST, between early June and mid-July twilight would only end after midnight.
The report says that most sleep studies are inconclusive and that energy savings are residual. On the other hand, and nowadays, there are increasingly fundamental issues to consider, which include greater or less safety on the streets, when school starts and finishes, the risk of road accidents, and work and productivity.
The adjustment between ST and biological rhythm is most appropriate at standard time (winter time) since it is the one that is closest to Solar Time or true time.
In short, let us respect as much as possible the nature around us and our own nature. That is to say, the closer the time we have on our wrist to the time that it truly is, the better.
I have always preferred the ST that is closer to the Solar Time, that is to say, the time when the noon we have on the clock and the solar or real noon (the moment the Sun passes through the local meridian) are closest, meaning, the time when, in truth, we are running on time. And this is best achieved by means of change twice a year, thus reducing the divergence between the law of nature and the legal law.
The Lisbon Astronomical Observatory, a legal authority in this field, has produced a very clear and objective scientific report on the subject, which concludes that the best solution for ST is the current one. All alternatives are worse: a) with the current ST, but without WEST, the summer sun would come up around 5:00 AM, that is to say, a dawn of unused sun followed by an end of afternoon with one hour less sun; b) with the current ST + 1 hour and without WEST, the sun would come up between 7:45 AM and 9:00 AM (!) for five months of the year, from mid-October to mid-March; c) with ST + 1 hour and WEST, between early June and mid-July twilight would only end after midnight.
The report says that most sleep studies are inconclusive and that energy savings are residual. On the other hand, and nowadays, there are increasingly fundamental issues to consider, which include greater or less safety on the streets, when school starts and finishes, the risk of road accidents, and work and productivity.
The adjustment between ST and biological rhythm is most appropriate at standard time (winter time) since it is the one that is closest to Solar Time or true time.
In short, let us respect as much as possible the nature around us and our own nature. That is to say, the closer the time we have on our wrist to the time that it truly is, the better.
