The World Is Split Over Time
World map showing current and past daylight saving usage (source: Wikipedia)
██ Areas that have DST
██ Areas that do not have DST, but once had DST
██ Areas that have never had DST
When I Was A Kid, We Didn't Change Our Clocks...
Until a couple years ago, there was a big orange state in the middle of the U.S. That state was Indiana. When I was growing up in the great state of Indiana, we continued to observe Eastern Standard Time all year around. This meant that during the Winter we would be observing the same time as New York and the rest of the east coast. However, in the summer while continuing to observe standard time, our clocks would become equivalent to those observing Central Daylight Savings Time in Chicago and the rest of the Central Time zone. It was always said while I was growing up that by observing Eastern Standard all year, we could split the difference between two of the largest cities in the nation, Chicago and New York. However, a couple years ago the state fell to the pressures of DST and now change their clocks like most of the rest of the nation. In the continental states, Arizona is the only state left that does not observe DST. Then there is also Hawaii that does not observe DST.
Seems Like A More Natural Shift This Year...
Starting this year, North America will change their clocks on the second Sunday in March and then revert back an hour on the first Sunday in November. This change was first imposed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In the past (since 1987), we would leap forward on the first Sunday in April and then revert back on the last Sunday in October. Since I grew up in Indiana, during a time when we didn't change our clocks, changing my clocks the past couple years while living in Chicago always seemed strange. For some reason, this year it seemed more right. I think that's because spring finally just arrived a couple days ago here. We've been having daytime temperatures near 60 degrees the past couple days. The past couple years, it was like spring had already come and the daylight hours had already naturally shifted and then we were shifting it yet again. However, this year the shift seems to fall more closely with the natural daylight shift and changing of the season to Spring.
I'm Not Sure We Define the Time Zones Properly...
Another thing that I have noticed is that there is not a great difference in the daylight between Indiana and Illinois yet we are an hour apart in time due to the time zones. This makes me wonder if we really divide the country up along timezones in the best manner. To me it seems like either the Eastern time zone needs to extend farther west or the Central time zone needs to extend farther east. I'm not sure which would be more proper, but I want to lean towards having the Central time zone extend farther eastward. I remember in Indiana without DST it would still be daylight out up until about 9PM at some points in the year. Now with DST, it's probably daylight until nearly 10PM during some parts of the year. However, in Illinois it would still only be 9PM. Is it just me? Or does it seem wrong for it to be daylight at 10PM?