THE’legalthe night between 29 and 30 March at 2:00 am, it will make us move the clock hands Next of an hourto allow us to enjoy the brightest months to the maximum light, saving energy. For years we have been talking about eliminating thesolar time (the one in force from October to March and linked to the passage of the sun over our meridians) and to leave the legal time all year round. But if this were the case, what would be the advantages of this choice, and what disadvantages? Let’s say immediately that There is no univocal and shared responsebut we can draw up a hypothetical list of some of the influenced areas – positively or negative – by the adoption of anpermanent legal time.
What the pros would be in maintaining the legal time all year round
First of all, we would have More natural light during the last hours of the afternoon and the early evening hoursfavoring the work activities related to services and the third sector, who tend to have office hours that begin and end later compared to the works of the production and industrial sector, which in recent years have been in contraction in Italy. Legal hours could maximize the number of hours of natural light in the workplace of the third sector, thus going to guarantee a energy saving which would gradually accumulate during the year.
The Benefit of commercial activitiesbecause people – being more likely to go out after office hours – could make more purchases after work.
In short, legal hours all year could make sense in a society in which working habits (which essentially regulate the rhythms of the day of many people) gradually abandon the need to begin very soon.
Finally, the change of time twice a year can have for some Negative effects on the duration and quality of sleep. According to some studies, in fact, the alteration of the sleep-wake cycle can take several days of “income” for some people. In fact, some people report a lower quality sleep, or for a few days they suffer from insomnia.
Against keep only the legal time and advantages of calendar hour
Having to move the hands forward, at the beginning the change of the time could Especially destabilize those who are more latestwhich has difficulty adapting to the new rhythm in the first weeks.
The “disorder” of having to change the time, then, also influences nature: in some regions, in fact, the legal time can negatively affect agricultural activitiessince farmers could find themselves working at times that do not correspond to their natural rhythms or those of sunlight.
The transition between legal and calendar time, on the other hand, allows you to adapt better to the natural duration of the hours of light: legal time (in spring and summer) allows you to take advantage of more natural light, delaying the lighting of the lights. The sunny hour in autumn and winter, on the other hand, allows you to take advantage of the first hours of light without having to use lighting, and this is very useful for those who work particularly early.
