Tony Finch wrote:
The reason DST exists is to more closely sync our activities to sunrise.
The reason DST exists is because it has become a self-propagating cultural meme.
Your April Fool's post on risks may be the most coherent analysis I've read on the subject. (Not trying to be ironic.) In general, this list (sad to say - now I'm being ironic :-) represents the species' hoard of knowledge on certain topics.
Where I grew up in the U.S. mid-Atlantic states, the most obvious effect of DST was to extend the usable hours of daylight for Summer evenings. (Perhaps some other narrative applies at higher or lower latitudes?) Since we were off school, the morning issues were meaningless. And workers go to work when their bosses tell them to. The time they own for themselves and their families is after work.
Recently, all discussions of DST are framed in turns of energy. It seems like every argument for DST (saves energy for lighting in the mornings) is countered by some argument against (increases cooling costs in the evenings). If DST were really a mechanism for managing our natural daylight resource, rather than a naive attempt at PR regarding petroleum resources, it would be applied in the Winter when the daylight is in shortest supply.
Rob _______________________________________________ LEAPSECS mailing list LEAPSECS@leapsecond.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
