the buzz log

On Sunday night at 2:00 a.m., daylight saving time comes to an end. The result: Mornings will be a little lighter, afternoons will be a little darker, and folks who forget to change their clocks will be extremely early to work on Monday.

Like it or not, you're going to gain an hour this weekend. The question on the minds of many Web searchers is "why?" Indeed, lookups on "why do we have a time change" are tick-tocking upwards and related queries on "fall back" and "standard time 2009" are also rocking 'round the clock. Fortunately, there is no shortage of information when it comes to the reasons behind rolling back our watches. Here's the scoop.

Daylight saving time (note the singular form of "saving") is one of those love it or hate it traditions. It started in 1918 during World War I, but didn't last very long. People just didn't like it. It was later brought back during World War II, and has stuck around in one way or another ever since. It became law in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act.

But now it ends, and we're back to standard time. There is considerable debate over whether standard or daylight saving time is actually more efficient. Some people believe that daylight saving time saves energy, because the lighter it is during waking hours, the less likely you are to turn on a light. But others believe this oversimplifies things. Doubters argue that any energy savings are offset by the inconvenience, disturbances to sleep patterns, and increased emissions.

If you're an American who doesn't like the time shift, there's little you can do, aside from writing your congressperson or moving to Hawaii, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or certain parts of Arizona. Or, you could just ignore the change and arrive everywhere an hour early for the next six months. Your call.

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