Does the clock change today. Summer time, winter time: Why do they translate the arrows

Sandford Fleming (1827−1915) put an end to the confusion over time by proposing that the time zone system be based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

In order not to enter local time for each degree of longitude, the Earth's surface is conventionally divided into 24 time zones. There are countries and areas (Iran, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Myanmar, etc.) in which the local time differs from the standard zone by an additional 30 or even 45 minutes. A map of time zones can be studied in detail on the World Time Zone website.

Blue indicates countries using the transition to winter time. Orange - countries that have canceled this transition; in red - countries that have never introduced it

In order to find out how justified the seasonal translation of the hands is, it is necessary to answer the question of what time we live in, or rather, how exactly we determine the daily time. From time immemorial, mankind lived according to "solar time": noon always fell at the moment when the Sun was at its zenith. Thus, the formal middle of the day always coincided with the lightest time of the day. From the point of view of each individual person, this method of counting time is optimal, because the biological clock of any living organism is guided, first of all, by the degree of illumination. And no matter what “owls” and “larks” say about themselves, we all belong to the species Homo sapiens leading a daily lifestyle. Therefore, it is most natural for us to get up at dawn (or a little earlier) and go to bed at sunset (or a little later), showing the greatest activity during daylight hours.

A significant disadvantage of solar time is the fact that for each locality located to the west or east of an arbitrary point, its own time turns out to be correct. Up until the 19th century. this did not pose much of a problem, but as railroads and communication technologies developed, solar time became more and more inconvenient. The trains moved so fast that it became very difficult for them to draw up accurate schedules - after all, in the process of moving along the earth's meridians, the difference between the clock readings at the starting point and local time gradually increased. Not in the best way telegraph operators were in a good position when they needed to transmit a message exactly by the appointed time: for each settlement they had to calculate their own time correction.

To solve the problem of synchronization, European countries began to introduce a common time on their territory, usually tied to the solar time of the capital. In a big and conservative Russian Empire it was used only on railways and telegraph lines. Trains and telegrams ran according to Petersburg time, but each city lived according to the time of its own meridian. In the US and Canada, the situation was even stranger. Not only did each state have its own time, but so did most of the railroad companies whose lines crossed the continent from ocean to ocean. Engineers and passengers had to constantly rack their brains, linking the time of the train with the common time of the state and the indications of the station clock. One can imagine what a confusion ensued if two railway lines intersected in one place.

One for all

The way out was found by a Canadian communications engineer named Sandforf Flemming, who worked on the railroad for many years. He proposed introducing Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and dividing the globe into 24 sectors of 15 degrees each, setting each of them to its own common time. This solution made it possible to significantly simplify the calculation of time corrections: the difference between the two time zones always remained a multiple of a whole hour. At the same time, the deviation from natural solar time should not exceed 30 minutes. The United States accepted the idea in 1883, and a year later, an agreement on time zones was signed by 26 more states. It was decided that the boundaries of the belts do not have to run strictly along the meridians - for the sake of convenience, they are consistent with state and administrative boundaries. Therefore, in some regions living according to standard time, the deviation from solar time can reach an hour or more. Today, most of the world lives according to standard time - simply because it is convenient.

The next step was the idea of ​​summer and winter time. It was first expressed by the London contractor William Willett in the article "The Waste of Daylight", published in 1907. Willett suggested moving the time forward 20 minutes every Sunday in April, and then win back the difference in September, and argued that this would allow the country to reduce lighting costs. He reasoned as follows: it so happened that in the summer, city residents get up and go to work when it is already dawn, and go to bed after dark, because of which they have to spend extra money on lighting their homes at night. Why not move the arrows forward a little in the summer so that the rise time moves closer to dawn? Willett's idea was implemented by the British government in 1916. Quite quickly, the British came up with a scheme with a one-time translation of the hands for one hour. After the end of the First World War, their experience began to gradually be adopted by other states, which saw a good opportunity to save money in the seasonal translation of the arrows.

Russian way

Meanwhile, our country, as usual, followed its own unique path. Before the revolution, all of Russia lived according to solar time - simply because the possible transition to the belt system was perceived by the tsarist government as "shaking the foundations" and "trampling on the holy identity." In 1918, the Soviet government introduced standard time in the country, highlighting 11 time zones on the territory of the USSR. In 1931, a decree was issued, moving the time forward 1 hour relative to the zone time - in order to save electricity. In 1981, in addition to the "mortem time", the summer translation of the hands was also set for another 1 hour ahead. In 1991, maternity time was abolished throughout the territory of the Union, but a few months later it was restored along with the seasonal switchover. This order continues to this day. Given that the average person gets up at 7 am and goes to bed at 11 pm, it may seem quite reasonable. However, the reality is somewhat more complicated than it looks at first glance.

Indeed, the summer switchover reduces the direct costs of lighting, but no one really knows how much exactly. In summer, electricity consumption is in any case less than in winter, primarily because much less energy is spent on heating. Therefore, it is very difficult to assess the economic effect of summer time. According to rough estimates made by RAO UES, the switchover saves about 4.4 billion kilowatt-hours annually. In fact, this figure is very small - for each inhabitant it turns out 26 kWh, or 3 W per hour - less than the permissible error in measuring the power of an incandescent lamp. And in terms of money, it turns out that each of us saves no more than 2 rubles on lighting. per month.

Meanwhile, the transfer of arrows in itself is associated with very significant expenses. Take at least passenger trains, which once a year have to stand on the stage for an extra hour to arrive at their destination exactly on schedule. This hour is wasted both by passengers and Railway. In connection with the violent violation of the established biological rhythm, some people, after the transfer of time, worsen their sleep and decrease their working capacity. All this leads to significant losses, which should more than cover the direct savings on consecration. In general, from a medical point of view, summer time is an absolute evil. Within a few days after switching the arrows, doctors note a significant increase in the number of heart attacks, strokes, suicides and various accidents, which means that we have to pay for the very dubious savings in electricity with human lives.

Interestingly, the practice of switching arrows is not at all as common as it is commonly believed - summer time exists in only 29% of the world's countries. It was abandoned by almost all the states that emerged on the site of the former USSR (including all the Baltic countries), as well as such industrial giants as Japan and China. Apparently, we should do the same a long time ago. Another thing is that an extra daylight hour in the evening should play a very positive role in itself, because it leads to a more complete coverage of daylight hours, which means it brings us closer to a more natural biological rhythm. Therefore, the most optimal solution seems to be a return to the standard time, which would be one hour ahead of the standard time - both in summer and in winter, without any translation of the hands.

As far as historians know, the original idea to switch clocks to daylight saving time belonged to the American Benjamin Franklin. The same one that is depicted on the hundred dollar bill. At the time of his epiphany, Franklin was living in Paris as the American ambassador. One fine day, the politician, who liked to sleep longer, woke up before dawn and was surprised to find that in the warm season at six o'clock in the morning it was already light. Then Franklin thought about how many candles he burns, staying up late and getting up not with the first rays of the sun.

As far as historians know, the original idea to switch clocks to daylight saving time belonged to the American Benjamin Franklin // Photo: low.onvacations.co

Benjamin Franklin expressed his thoughts in an essay entitled "The Economic Project", which was published in 1784. In it, the politician wrote that only France could save almost one hundred million livres on candles, provided that they reset the clock in the spring. For those who flatly refuse to get up early, Franklin proposed introducing a special tax, and identify violators by lowered blinds during daylight hours. Another of his initiatives was the introduction of the norm of candles per family. At the same time, he did not deny that the translation of the clock hands would cause certain inconveniences. But what do they mean in comparison with such savings.

“It will be difficult in the first few days, and then the new regimen will become natural and easy. If you force a person to get up at four in the morning, then most likely he will want to sleep by eight in the evening. Benjamin Franklin noted in his essay.

Britannia

IN late XVIII centuries, Franklin's ideas did not find their supporters. It is not known whether it was under the influence of an essay by an American politician, or inspired by his own thoughts, but in 1905 the Briton William Willet expressed exactly the same initiative. Willett also argued the need to move the hands of the clock with economic feasibility. He also tried to convey his thoughts to the people, but not in the form of an essay, but in the form of an article called "On wasting daylight."

According to Willett's initiative, all of April in every British home the clocks were to be set back twenty minutes. The innovator assumed that it would not be difficult for the British, because they already wind up the clock every week. And twenty minutes will not bring any inconvenience to the population. It was proposed to move the arrows back in October. William Willet was convinced that with the help of these simple manipulations, the inhabitants of Foggy Albion would receive over two hundred hours of light and save an incredible amount of electricity.

It took a long time and an incredible amount of debate to approve summer and winter time in Britain // Photo: dvecher.com

Willett was very active in promoting his initiative. The authorities also appreciated it, but it took a long time and an incredible amount of debate to approve the clock change. Farmers, bankers and astronomers opposed the clock change. It is noteworthy that Britain began to translate clocks in 1916 after the innovation appeared in Germany. William Willett did not live to see this moment.

the USSR

With such a concept as summer and winter time, the Russians were introduced in 1917. After the first clock change, the authorities recognized this initiative as unsuccessful, but returned to it in 1931. At the same time, maternity time was introduced. It was sixty minutes ahead of the belt. In the early 1980s, Daylight Saving Time was added to daylight savings time. The Russians have been moving arrows for two decades. In 2011, it was decided to abandon summer and winter time. the Russian Federation did not begin to translate the clock, remaining on summer time. Three years later, a number of regions switched to permanent winter time due to the inconvenience created.

Where do the clocks change

At the moment, the transition to winter and summer time is carried out in most countries of the European Union, in the USA, in the CIS countries, except for Belarus, a number of African countries such as Tunisia, Namibia and Egypt, as well as in Australia, but not everywhere. IN Latin America Clock hands are translated in Cuba, Mexico and Honduras.

Nowadays, clock hands are translated in many countries of the world. But at the same time, a considerable number of states have abandoned this practice // Photo: shkolazhizni.ru

Asian states such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, China abandoned winter and summer time quite a long time ago. They don't change clocks in Iceland. But not because they consider it inappropriate, but because in this country the time coincides with Greenwich Mean Time, lagging behind in the summer by only one hour.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decided to cancel the transition to winter time starting from autumn 2011.

For the first time, moving the clock hands forward one hour in summer and one hour back in winter in order to save energy resources was carried out in Great Britain in 1908. The very idea of ​​​​saving energy resources by moving the hands belongs to the American statesman, one of the authors of the US Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin. In the United States of America itself, the transition to "summer" and "winter" time has been applied since 1918.

At present, seasonal switchover is carried out in more than 80 countries from 192 countries of the world. The switch mode is used at all latitudes from Canada to Australia.

In Russia, for the first time this transition was carried out on July 1, 1917, when, in accordance with the decree of the Provisional Government, the hands of all clocks in Russia were moved forward one hour, and they were moved back already by the decree of the Council of People's Commissars, which was adopted on December 22, 1917 ( old style).

Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of June 16, 1930 introduced maternity time on the territory of the USSR. Then the clock hands were moved one hour ahead of standard time and after that the hands were not moved back, and the country began to live and work all year round, one hour ahead of the natural daily cycle. Only since 1981 has the country returned to seasonal time.

In its current form, the transition system to different time, in which the transition to "summer" time is carried out at the end of March, and to "winter" time - at the end of October, has been in force since 1997. Until 1996, the abolition of "summer" time in Russia was carried out at the end of September, and not on the last Sunday of October, as in all of Europe. The period of "summer" time in Russia was extended on the recommendation of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, "in order to observe a single time regime with other countries."

All countries in the world using this system set their clocks on different days.

For example, in Namibia, the transition to "summer" time is held on the first Sunday of April, and to "winter" - the first Sunday of September; Jordan has a "last Thursday of March - last Friday of September" scheme; in Brazil - "the third Sunday of February - the third Sunday of October", etc.

In Europe, unlike Russia, the transition to "winter" time is carried out not according to local time, but according to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or, more precisely, according to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This means, for example, that London and Lisbon set their clocks at 2 am local time, while Paris, Berlin or Rome set their clocks at 3 o'clock local time, and Istanbul, Athens or Helsinki will change their clocks when it is 4 o'clock.

Of all European countries only Iceland does not take advantage of "summer" time, being at the same time as Greenwich throughout the year and an hour behind London in the summer.

Since 2007, in the US and Canada, daylight saving time has been implemented on the second Sunday in March at 2:00 am, and back on the first Sunday of November, also at 2:00 am. It should be noted that not all of the United States and Canada use "summer time" in the same way. For example, in the north-west of the Canadian province of Ontario, residents refuse to switch arrows in the summer. In the US, clocks are not translated in the states of Hawaii and Arizona.

In countries such as Algeria, Angola, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Guinea, India, Kenya, China, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Peru, Tunisia, Philippines, North and South Korea, Japan is not carried out. At the same time, in the equatorial countries, the transition to "summer" / "winter" time was not introduced at all. In addition, many agrarian countries have abandoned the transition to "summer" time, where the working day already determines daylight hours.

In Africa, only three countries translate time - Egypt, Tunisia and Namibia. IN Central America and the Caribbean Sea, the time change takes place in most of Mexico, Honduras, Cuba and a number of small island states. Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia and other states of the region do not translate hour hands.

Japan abandoned the transition to "summer" time in 1952. This was due to the fact that the "summer" time regime in Japan was forcibly introduced by the occupation authorities who ruled the country on May 1, 1948. Moving the arrows forward was met by the majority of the population of Japan disapprovingly. The lengthening of the working day for people exhausted by war, famine and devastation was perceived as the intrigues of the invaders. Daylight saving time was abolished in 1952 after the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty (1951), which put an end to the occupation regime.

Australia became one of the first countries in the world, where in 1917 they decided to switch to "winter" and "summer" time. However, not all administrative divisions of the country make this transition. The tropical Northern Territory and the state of Queensland find time management inexpedient and unprofitable. In March 2009, Western Australia ended a three-year trial for Daylight Saving Time. After many years of debate "for" and "against" the transition to "winter" and "summer" time, the inhabitants of Western Australia decided to abandon this idea.

In 1990, Uzbekistan refused to switch to "summer" or "winter" time. On April 9, 1990, the Council of Ministers of the then UzSSR adopted a decree on maternity time, according to which time, "winter" or "summer", is not translated. Tajikistan has not switched to "winter" time since the autumn of 1991.

Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan do not switch to "winter" time. They attribute this to local climatic and religious characteristics. In Kazakhstan, it was decided to cancel "summer" time in 2005 due to the fact that "... studies conducted by the Committee for Technical Regulation and Metrology of the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that the energy savings achieved as a result of turning the clock hands in spring was insignificant and, as a rule, was spent in the fall, when returning to the "winter" time.

In the fall of 2005, the government and the President of Georgia also decided to stop moving the clock hands. According to the Georgian authorities, the refusal to switch to "winter" time was due to several factors. In particular, during summer time, Georgia will be able to use electricity more economically. In addition, summer time is longer than winter time, it corresponds to human biorhythms.

In November 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, during his annual address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, proposed discussing the feasibility of switching to summer time, and at the end of March 2010, the head of state invited experts to present an analysis of the feasibility of such a transition and did not rule out that this measure could be cancelled.

Switching to daylight saving time allows you to make better use of daylight hours and save energy. Usually the clock hands are moved forward an hour on the last Sunday in March (and on the last Sunday in October they are moved back an hour). But this is not the case everywhere. A number of countries, including Russia, have refused to switch to daylight saving time, and the rest do not necessarily do it synchronously. The Village figured out the intricacies of daylight saving time.

Text: Anastasia Kotlyakova

In the northern hemisphere

(summer time is used almost universally)

Europe: Since 1996, European countries have adopted a system for moving the hour hand forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and one hour back on the last Sunday in October. The exceptions are Russia, Iceland and Belarus (these countries do not switch to daylight saving time).

In 2018, the transition is made on the night of March 24-25. The hands of the clock are translated at two in the morning - from 02:00 to 03:00. After that, the time difference with Moscow will be one hour.

USA, Canada (except Saskatchewan), Mexico:

USA: Transfer to the second Sunday of March at 02:00, back - at 02:00 on the first Sunday of November. Only Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands do not cross.

Arizona does not change clocks (but upstate Americans do).

Other countries: The transition is also carried out in Cuba, Morocco, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine.

In the southern hemisphere

Australia: In the states of South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, clocks are changed twice a year: to daylight saving time (October 1 at 02:00) and back (April 1 at 03:00) .

Western Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory do not have Daylight Savings Time.

Chile: The data is different! But RIA Novosti writes that there has been no transition since 2015.

Brazil: Almost nowhere there is a transition, except for the states of Campo Grande, Cuiaba, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro (there summer time starts on November 4 at midnight, ends at midnight on February 18).

Who gave up daylight saving time

Japan, China, India, Singapore, Turkey, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Donetsk People's Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lugansk People's Republic, Russia (since 2011), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, South Ossetia.

Incomprehensible countries

In the equatorial countries, the transition to summer and winter time was not introduced at all. Many agrarian countries have abandoned the transition to summer time, where the working day already determines daylight hours.

Illustrations: Anahit Ohanyan

In Ukraine, it takes place on the last Sunday of October. To find out when to switch clocks to winter in Ukraine in 2018, just look at the calendar.

The last Sunday in October 2018 falls on the 28th. It means that on the night of 27 to 28 October 2018 there is a transition to winter in Ukraine. The clock needs to be set back an hour.

Where and when to switch the arrows to winter time in Ukraine

The hands of the clock, as a rule, are moved back an hour in advance in the evening. And all modern gadgets, in which the country of location is correctly indicated, independently switch to night.

Where to switch the clock to winter time, many fail to remember. It will be easier to deal with this if you remember that in the fall we turn the clock hands back: in the fall - back, in the spring - forward.

Thanks to the transition to winter time, it gets light earlier in the morning and darkens faster in the evening. Switching to winter time gives us the opportunity to sleep an hour longer in the morning.

How does the transition to winter time affect health

Doctors say that for residents of our latitude, winter time is more comfortable and, as a rule, switching to winter time in Ukraine causes fewer health problems than switching to summer time.

Although some all require adaptation for at least three weeks in order to get used to the new time. To make the transition to winter time 2018 less painful for you, follow a few simple rules:

• three days before the clock changes to winter time, try to go to bed no later than 22:00-23:00;
• at least for a while give up coffee and strong black tea;
• try to go out for an hour walk in the fresh air before going to bed;
• In the meantime, ventilate your home.

Now you know when the clocks in Ukraine are switched to winter time in 2018.