Stop the Time Change. Anyone? Yes, the debate rages on....
A Camosun College psychology instructor says when clocks fall back an hour this weekend, it means more than just an extra hour in bed.
The end of daylight saving time for another year reignites the longstanding debate about whether we should keep gaining/losing an hour twice a year or drop it permanently.
Currently, there's discussion about remaining on permanent daylight saving time.
Dr. Michael Pollock says circadian research supports the benefits of sticking with standard time year-round.
"In countries like Canada that are far from the equator, switching to permanent daylight saving time would mean we would be going to school or work in the dark for most of the winter." says Dr. Pollock. "The really big problem with this is that getting early morning sunlight exposure is essential for keeping our brain’s internal clock synchronized with the natural day-night cycle. Without that bright light in the early morning, our internal clocks will keep wanting us to sleep in and stay up late each day."
"This would be especially troublesome for adolescents and young adults, because at that age they are biologically driven to be night owls," Dr. Pollock adds. "Their nighttime sleep quality would be disrupted and their daytime attention levels would greatly suffer from having daylight saving time in the winter – when it was never designed to be implemented."
On Sunday, Nov. 2, B.C. and other parts of Canada will set clocks back one hour as daylight saving time ends and the country returns to standard time.