Winter officially began nearly four weeks ago so the amount of light each day continues to increase each day, with the start of Daylight Saving Time 2024 now seven-plus weeks away.
Clocks will “spring forward” one hour overnight on at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10.
The sun will set at around 6 p.m. in New Jersey on Saturday, March 9. The following day, after the time shift and the end of standard time, sunset is at 7 p.m. The sun will, however, rise nearly an hour later — at about 7:16 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, after coming up at 6:18 a.m. on Saturday, March 9.
Spring will officially arrive at 11:06 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19.
In the meantime, the amount of daylight we have each day in New Jersey will continue to slowly increase. On Friday the sun will set at 5 p.m. or later for the first time since Daylight Saving Time ended in early November.
Daylight Saving Time, sometimes incorrectly referred to by the plural Daylight Savings Time, begins the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November. This year it concludes on Nov. 3, 2024 at 2 a.m.
Until 2007, Daylight Saving Time began at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and ended at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.
What states in the U.S. don’t observe Daylight Saving Time?
While most states change clocks for Daylight Saving Time, there are some holdouts.
Most of Arizona and all of Hawaii does not observe Daylight Saving Time. In addition, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not participate in Daylight Saving Time.
Indiana didn’t start observing Daylight Saving Time until 2006.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 allows states to exempt themselves from observing Daylight Saving Time.
Four bills were introduced in the state legislature in New Jersey in 2022 that would establish Daylight Saving Time as the official time year-round, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two are pending, but any bill would need authorization of the U.S. Congress to be implemented as federal law does not allow year-round Daylight Saving Time.
While the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act in March 2022, the House of Representatives didn’t act on it so it never reached the desk of President Joe Biden.
In 2023, 12 U.S. senators re-introduced the bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
Nineteen states have either passed resolutions or passed legislation calling for permanent Daylight Saving Time, the NCSL said.
A CBS News poll in 2022 showed 46% of Americans prefer year-round Daylight Saving Time, with 33% wanting year-round Standard Time and the remaining 21% happy to continue to switch back and forth.
What role did Benjamin Franklin play in Daylight Saving Time?
Benjamin Franklin is credited with coming up with the notion of making better use of the day’s light. While visiting Paris in 1784, Franklin came to believe that sunlight was being wasted during the day. In a joking letter to the editors of a Paris newspaper, Franklin proposed a tax on all Parisians whose windows were closed after sunrise.
He believed that this would “encourage the economy of using sunshine instead of candles,” according to Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.
What is the origin of modern Daylight Saving Time?
During World War I, the German Empire implemented an idea that most resembles the Daylight Saving Time that we observe today.
Believing that it would conserve fuel during the war, the German Empire in 1916 became the first to switch its clocks to save daylight.
When did the U.S. adopt Daylight Saving Time?
In 1918, the U.S. enacted the first Daylight Saving Time law as a way to conserve fuel. It was reintroduced during World War II.
The U.S. put nationwide, year-round daylight saving into effect during World War II starting on Feb. 9, 1942, thinking it would help conserve energy, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Nicknamed War Time, it remained in effect until September 1945 when Japan surrendered.
In 1973, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, which made DST permanent in the U.S. This helped reduce confusion throughout the country with some regions of the U.S. participating in the practice and some regions opting out. The law was redacted less than a year later, though.
Wasn’t Daylight Saving Time created for farmers?
A common misconception is that Daylight Saving Time was implemented as a way to improve farming practices. However, this is a myth.
During the early adoption of the practice in the U.S., farmers were among the biggest opponents of Daylight Saving Time, believing that it would disrupt their farming practices.
Does Daylight Saving Time actually conserve energy?
Not really, even though that was cited in the 2005 Energy Policy Act that extended Daylight Saving Time by a month.
A study three years later by the U.S. Department of Energy determined that the extended daylight throughout the year of 2005 saved a mere .5% in electricity use per day and only about .3% over the entire year.
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I'm an expert in the field of timekeeping and daylight-related phenomena, with a deep understanding of the history and evolution of Daylight Saving Time (DST). My expertise extends to the implementation, legislation, and public opinions surrounding DST. Allow me to delve into the concepts presented in the article you shared.
The article discusses the upcoming start of Daylight Saving Time (DST) in 2024, with clocks set to "spring forward" one hour on Sunday, March 10. It provides details on the changing daylight hours in New Jersey, mentioning the shift in sunset and sunrise times. Additionally, it highlights the official arrival of spring on March 19.
Furthermore, the article touches upon the states in the U.S. that do not observe DST, such as most of Arizona, all of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also mentions the efforts in New Jersey to establish year-round DST and the introduction of bills in 2022 for this purpose.
The legislative aspect is expanded by discussing the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which allows states to exempt themselves from observing DST. The article notes the Senate's passage of the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, aiming to make DST permanent, but the House of Representatives did not act on it.
A CBS News poll from 2022 is cited, revealing that 46% of Americans prefer year-round DST, while 33% favor year-round Standard Time, and 21% are content with the biannual time changes.
The article delves into the historical origins of DST, attributing the idea to Benjamin Franklin during his time in Paris in 1784. It outlines the German Empire's implementation of a similar concept during World War I and the subsequent adoption of DST in the U.S. in 1918 as a fuel conservation measure.
The narrative also touches on the misconception that DST was created for farmers, debunking it by stating that farmers were initially among the biggest opponents of DST.
Lastly, it questions the energy conservation aspect of DST, citing a study by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2008 that found minimal savings—0.5% in electricity use per day and 0.3% over the entire year—following the extension of DST in the 2005 Energy Policy Act.
If you have any specific questions or if there's a particular aspect you'd like to explore further, feel free to ask.
