Geography: proof that now we’re on “real time”

Self-tutoring about geography and history: the tutor mentions daylight savings time.

The following is according to my understanding.

Today, I went outside at noon. Looking south, the sun was in the middle of the sky. That’s what confirmed for me that the time now is “real time,” since I’ve always understood that noon is literally mid-day.

We spend more than half the year not on “real time,” since the clocks get set ahead in March but turned back in November. This is not a complaint, just an observation.

There are advantages to daylight savings time, but they seem to centre around coordinated activities. I’ve known a few people – farmers or entrepreneurs – who didn’t wear watches. To them, daylight savings time would likely be inconsequential.

What daylight savings time has come to signal, one might sense, is winter vs the rest of the year. Technically, winter starts around December 21 and then ends around March 21 (they seem to change those dates some years). I think to some people, however, turning the clocks back signals the beginning of winter, while turning them ahead signals the end of it. That’s how I felt when I was a kid.

Source:

timeanddate.com