Change to winter time in 2024 in the US: when does the clock change? Is it late or early?

(CNN Spanish) – The clocks will go back one hour in the United States this Sunday, November 3, the date that marks the beginning of winter time 2024.

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At 02:00 am on Sunday the 3rd, the first Sunday of the month of November, daylight saving time that began in March – known in English as “Daylight saving time” – comes to an end and the clocks must change to 01 :00 am (Remember that those that are on a device with an internet connection generally adjust automatically, and that for those that do not, you should make the change before going to sleep, to wake up with the correct time).

That day, therefore, you will gain an hour of sleep, the one you lost when you had to turn the clock forward in March.

In Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa there was no change to daylight saving time, so it should not be adjusted now either. On the other hand, areas of the northern border of Mexico will be adjusted in accordance with the United States schedule.

The history of winter and daylight saving time in the United States

The time changes are implemented with the aim of making the most of sunlight and reducing energy consumption. In the summer months, as there is sunlight for more hours, you can set the clock ahead and take advantage of it. But in winter it is necessary to return to “standard time” to be able to have sunlight at relatively early times. If this were not done, in some places the sun would not rise until almost 8:30 am

The current system the United States follows began in 2007, but the concept of taking advantage of daylight is much older. It is disputed who originally had the idea, but it appears that Benjamin Franklin first mentioned it in 1784, when he wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris.

However, daylight saving time did not become widespread until more than a century later. Several countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany, implemented daylight saving time during World War I. But the United States did not standardize the system until 1966, when it passed the Uniform Time Act.

For years, the United States observed daylight saving time from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In 2005, President George W. Bush extended daylight saving time by four more weeks, a change that officially took effect in 2007.

In the United States, states are not required by law to follow daylight saving time, and Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe it. Other states, such as Florida and California, are working to follow daylight saving time year-round.

Plans to make daylight saving time permanent are also advancing in Congress. In March 2022, the Senate unanimously approved a bill in this regard. For it to become a reality, it must be approved by the House of Representatives and enacted by President Joe Biden. In any case, the measure would not come into force until November 2023.

ANALYSIS | Why won’t the US Congress make daylight saving time permanent?

Time to implement a change in practices

Time changes are often at the center of the debate due to the costs they can cause in human terms.

The changes disrupt our sleep schedules and harm our health, according to experts at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The impacts are wide-ranging and include bad news for cardiovascular health, possible strokes and atrial fibrillation, medical errors, mental health problems and even traffic accidents.

Many people look forward to the extra hour of sleep that comes with the change to daylight saving time, but it’s not enough to erase chronic sleep debt, Dr. Kannan Ramar, professor of medicine at the Center for Sleep Medicine, told CNN. from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

However, the extra hour of rest may cause you to wake up feeling more refreshed, which may motivate you to sleep more.

This is a good time to implement healthy “sleep hygiene” practices, which will help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep. Here we explain how you can do it.

With reporting from CNN’s Megan Marples and Jen Rose Smith.

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