European Parliament has voted to end Daylight Saving Time in European Union-member nations by the year 2021, according to The Verge. After that year, individual EU-member states will have to decide whether they stick with DST or standard time.
Daylight saving time is when we roll clocks back one hour so the sun rises and sets at a later time in the day. Some of the ideas behind the century-old practice of switching to DST include having more daylight working hours and saving energy, but some recent studies have shown that modern-day time changes don’t do much for energy bills or the environment. However, changing time twice a year does seem to have an impact on public health, with people reporting more sleep problems and auto accidents becoming more common after the biannual time shift.
While Daylight Saving Time used to switch at the same time, Europe and the United States change the clocks at different times of the year thanks to new rules enacted in 2007 by President George W. Bush. But if enough Americans are as fed up with turning the clocks backwards and forwards every spring and fall, time changes could be a thing of the past in the U.S. as well. States and territories including Arizona, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, have already opted out of Daylight Saving Time. And President Donald Trump has tweeted his support for permanent Daylight Saving Time, which has been suggested in legislation introduced by Florida lawmakers.
