There's More Good to Daylight Saving Ending Than Just The Extra Hour of Sleep

If you happened to be hyper alert early morning Sunday, around 1:59am to be exact, you probably noticed what very few halloween party goers were too dazed to notice-the anomaly of daylight saving end-. In 48 US States and a few countries outside of North America time deviated, -reverting back one hour from 1:59a.m to 1:00a.m- in observance of DST. November 1st at 2:00a.m. marked the end of Daylight saving time, granting those who are involved -mostly involuntarily- an extra hour of sleep, brighter mornings and darker evenings. Here's why you should be glad it's over.

Originally intended to conserve energy by prolonging daylight hours, daylight saving time has become nothing more than a pain to many. As a result of the subtracted sleep hour, Daylight saving time has been stated and backed by research to cause an increase in heart attacks, traffic related accidents and workplace injuries within the Monday after the time change.

Losing sleep regardless of circumstance usually results in an unhappy individual; daylight saving being the opposite of an exception to that universal certainty. Being cranky due to the confusion of our circadian rhythm ultimately result in some adverse health risks when compounded with the routine stresses of a Monday morning.

Changes in circadian rhythms may just be a cyclist's worst enemy on the morning after DST begins. The hour dissolved by the concept of pushing back time results in drowsy drivers. Drivers who aren't even alert enough to see the illuminating taillights in front of them, certainly won't see the cyclist trailing on their side.

Imagine losing a whole 60 minutes of sleep, waking up around 6:00a.m on a Monday morning and then having to bike 6 miles to your job. Not only would you be drowsy, perhaps even grumpy, but you'd be stressed by all the atrocious driving going on all around you. To top it all off, the combination of being physically tired from the lack of sleep, emotionally distressed from the seemingly murderous drivers and anatomically exhausted from the ride might just result in you suffering a from a heart attack.

With the end of Daylight Saving Time, -yes ‘saving’ not ‘savings’ - comes the decrease in all said possibilities, statistically speaking at least. Do yourself a favor and indulge in the extra hour of sleep this upcoming winter because it's only a matter of time before you lose it again.

For more in-depth information on the relationship between DST and it's effects, check out these links: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA2S0D420140329, http://www.attn.com/stories/3865/health-effects-daylight-savings-time, http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/end-of-daylight-saving-time-2015-6-eye-opening-facts-1.3296353