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Portugal enters summer time at dawn on Sunday. The clock advances 60 minutes. Let’s go on a time trip to explain why time changes in our watches tonight.
Mainland Portugal and the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores to advance The clocks one hour Shortly after midnight this Saturday, at dawn on Sunday, March 30, starting daylight saving time.
In mainland Portugal and the autonomous region of Madeira, the clocks will advance an hour when it is 01:00, being 02:00; In the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the change will be made at 00:00, changing to 01:00.
But after all, why are we still in this?
And we have been there for over a century.
The time change dates back to the eighteenth century, but was officially implemented in Portugal in 1916 during World War I. Inspired by Germany and other European countries, the measure intended take better party from sunlight and save energyin times of conflict. But throughout the twentieth century Portugal has suspended and resumed this practice several times.
With the oil crisis of the 1970s, The change of time was definitely resumed in 1976as a way to promote energy efficiency.
But the original justification for change – energy savings – lost validity.
“It has been proved that it was wrong, so it no longer helps us save energy as it was created at a time when the internet did not exist, when energy consumption was quite different from what it is now,” explains Ariadna Güell Sans, deputy director of Time Use Initiative, Ao.
And why does the transition happen at dawn, always at the same time?
The choice of specific time and day is not accidental.
The main reason also dates back to the early twentieth century, when rail transport was the “king” of time. The choice of 2 hours at dawn for the transition was due to the fact that it is the Time with less railway traffic Everything to week. The change of time at this time ensured that the adjustment did not interfere with the arrival or departure of the trains.
Also, from a technical point of view, the 2h00 is a more stable time zone. The change from time to midnight could give rise to administrative problems, such as confusion with date or errors in servers, banks and databases. By programming the change to the early hours of Sunday morning, the impact on daily life is minimized, since most people don’t work or do much but sleep at this time.
A political issue
The current time change regime is regulated by a Directive (Community Law) of 2000which foresees that every year clocks are advanced and late one hour on the last Sunday of March and last Sunday of October, marking the beginning and end of summer time, respectively.
The proposal for abolish time change remains suspended. The discussion has been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and so far remains criticism: according to a 2018 poll, the time change.
That same year, the European Commission proposed to end the seasonal change of the hour. The directive was approved by the European Parliament with a clear majority, but the national governments did not agree on which time to maintain – Summer or winter – and therefore the proposal was blocked.
The theme is expected to return to the table during the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council, in 2027. To be approved the change, the decision would require Portugal to choose between maintaining winter or summer time forever.
Is it not healthy?
Several studies point to the fact that this alteration interferes with the alignment of the human body with sunlight, which can cause sleep deprivation and changes in the state of mood and cognitive capabilities such as memory and psychomotor.
Many Western European countries, such as Spain and France, are advanced in their solar time, which causes dawns and further enhanced, especially in summer, which affects biological rhythms of the population.
The legal time will change again in October 26for the winter regime.
