The time change in Romania, to move to daylight saving time, took place on the night of March 26-27, when the clocks were set one hour earlier at 3:00, which became 4:00. Thus, March 27, 2022, is the shortest day of the year, having, theoretically, 23 hours.
During daylight saving time, the difference between Romania’s official time and Universal Time (GMT) will be three hours (compared to two hours in wintertime).
The transition to summertime 2022 will take place one week after the spring equinox, marked on March 20, 2022, when the day was equal to the night. From this moment, the day begins to “increase” and the night decreases (the duration of natural light during a day) until the summer solstice of June 21, 2022.
When the time changes
The summer and wintertime system involves an hourly adjustment of the clocks every spring and autumn to better benefit from natural light.
In summer, the clock is set one hour ahead (3:00 is 4:00), while in winter the operation is reversed, the clocks are set back one hour and 4:00 is 3 o’clock. : 00.
“We sleepless”, as they say, on the night of March 26-27, 2022, following that on the last weekend of October, that is, on the night of October 29-30, 2022, when it shifts again to winter time, the length of the night to earns an extra hour.
However, winter time is considered the standard time, the natural time.
The introduction of daylight saving time has been aimed at increasing the number of hours that people enjoy the natural light of the Sun and has been extremely beneficial for those who once worked in agriculture.
The summertime – wintertime system was adopted by European countries in the last century to save energy, especially during the war or crises in the oil market in the 1970s.
Daylight Saving Time 2022. The effects of time change on the body
When discussing giving up the time change, one of the reasons given is the effects that this artificial change of time has on the human body and the biorhythm.
The transition to summertime can affect us, but not in the long run, in the case of young people and healthy people. In contrast, people with anxiety and depression, as well as the elderly, may experience increased discomfort as a result of this change.
Also, when the time changes, people who have a higher sensitivity of the biological clock may feel the change more intensely. They may need a longer period of accommodation, until they get used to waking up an hour earlier each day.
Experts say that we will need about a week to adjust, because we have to wake up an hour earlier than usual, so that the level of stress can increase and it can be difficult to concentrate at work or school. That is why, in 2018, the Ministry of Health supported the idea of Romania giving up daylight saving time.
According to psychologist Cristina Fulop , although most people do not feel affected by the fact that the clocks are one hour ahead, it seems, however, that the body adapts more difficultly in spring than in autumn, when it changes to winter time.
How did the idea of changing the time come about?
In 1784, the American scientist, writer, and businessman Benjamin Franklin suggested this method of changing the time to a satire, in which he mentioned that a saving of candles would be achieved by using the morning light of the sun.
However, the idea of using daylight saving time is attributed to New Zealand’s George Vernon Hudson, an entomologist who argued that it needed more light to study insects and came up with the idea in 1895.
The time change was first applied during World War I in 1916 by several European countries. The first to introduce daylight saving time were the Germans, starting in 1916 (April 30-October 1). The British followed, which introduced daylight saving time in 1916 (May 21-October 16), followed by Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey.
On March 31, 1918, daylight saving time was introduced in the United States. During World War II, daylight saving time was applied in the United States for a longer period, from February 3, 1942, to September 30, 1945.
Daylight saving time is changing in all EU countries
Today, in Romania, daylight saving time is correlated with daylight saving time practiced in the European Union. The official summer time that Romania changes from Saturday night to Sunday will be Eastern European Time.
On the European continent, the time changes in all countries except Iceland, Georgia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia. Some of these countries returned to their original time, while others preferred to stay in the summer.
However, the time change is not simultaneous in all countries, due to the time zone difference.
Changing the time does not change the running of the trains
CFR informed that the transition to daylight saving time does not change the running of the trains in force, the traffic will be carried out according to the schedule provided in the running of the trains.
The trains operated by CFR Călători will run after the current time (winter) until the night of March 26/27 this year at 03:00, which will become 04.00. After 04.00, the trains will leave at the time of the train running in force, respecting the official summer time.
The trains operated by CFR Călători in circulation after 03:00, which becomes 04:00, will continue their journey to the destination station, and in case the departure times of these trains overlap with the normal departure times in between 04.00 and 05.00, the trains will leave in order of rank.
Considering that in the neighboring countries the transition to daylight saving time is made on the same day of Sunday, March 27, 2022, between the border stations with the neighboring countries, the trains will run according to the schedules from the train running in force.
As long as the time changes
The European Commission has proposed giving up seasonal time change in Europe, giving Member States the freedom to decide, once and for all, whether they want to apply daylight saving time on a permanent basis. The proposal to drop the time change came in 2018 and should have come into force in 2019, but some European countries opposed it , so some negotiations were to take place.
In any case, starting in 2021, the change of summer and winter time in the European Union should have been abandoned, only the covid pandemic, and now the events in Ukraine have prevented the realization of this calendar.
“Romania and other states had to decide whether to adopt this measure. Romania has decidednot to adopt this measure for the time being and this process is currently blockedat European level “, declared, in the autumn of last year, the MEP Victor Negrescu.
Normally, EU countries should have informed the Commission of their choice by April 2020, and then coordinated with the Community bloc executive so that individual decisions do not affect the functioning of the single market.
The US Senate has voted to make daylight saving time permanent
Giving up the time change is a hotly debated topic on other continents as well.
The U.S. Senate passed a measure on Tuesday, March 16, 2022, which would make daylight saving time permanent throughout the United States. The law was passed unanimously by the Senate, but must also pass the House of Representatives and then be enacted by President Joe Biden.
If the measure goes through Congress and is enacted, it will mean that there will be no need to turn back the clock every year in the fall.
The bill has bipartisan support, being initiated by several Republicans and Democrats, CNN notes.
On April 13, 1966, the US legislature imposed daylight saving time (DST) from the last Sunday in April until the last Sunday in October. Twenty years later, President Ronald Reagan signed a federal environmental law, which also included a provision requiring energy conservation and daylight saving time. Since then, daylight saving time has remained fixed in the United States for a period between the spring and autumn equinoxes.
Countries where there is no need to change the time
Countries that have recently reintroduced daylight saving time include Haiti in 2017, after giving up in 2015; Chile, in 2016, after giving up in 2015; Jordan in 2014 after giving up in 2012.
Countries that have given up daylight saving time without returning are: Armenia (2011), Libya (2013), Russia (2014), Egypt (2015), Uruguay (2015), Azerbaijan (2015), Namibia (2017). There are many states that have used or are only experimentally using this time system.
China experimentally used daylight saving time between 1986 and 1991.
Equatorial and tropical countries do not apply this time, as the length of the day is the same throughout the year.
