When does Daylight Saving Time Begin in 2010?

Or, when does Standard Time end?

The answer:  it depends.

The United States, Canada and some other countries (such as Saint Pierre & Miquelon and Turks & Caicos Islands) extended Daylight Savings Time in 2007. The new start date for DST is the second Sunday in March (previously the first Sunday in April) through to the first Sunday in November (previously the last Sunday in October).

That is March 14, 2010.

You can thank (or blame) President Bush  for signing into law a broad energy bill that extended Daylight Saving Time by four weeks starting in 2007.  Those four extra weeks were supposed to bring massive savings in energy bills.

But now that I’m in Italy, Daylight Savings begins on March 28, 2010 (the last Sunday in March).  In fact, since 1996, European Summer Time is standard across the EU.

So for two weeks, the time difference to North America will be off by an hour!  So watch those conference calls!

Exceptions to the Rule in North America (and elsewhere)

In Canada, the majority of Saskatchewan and parts of north-eastern British Columbia do not observe DST but instead stay on “standard time” all year long.

In the USA, Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are the only places in the USA that do not observe DST.

Other unusual DST in the northern hemisphere for 2010 are:

Cuba
DST starts Sunday, March 14 – DST ends Sunday, October 31

Egypt
2009: DST starts Friday, April 24 – DST ends Friday, August 21

No DST in 2010

Iran
DST starts Monday, March 22 – DST ends Wednesday, September 22 (always on the 22rd)

Iraq
No DST in 2010

Israel
DST starts Friday, March 26 – DST ends Sunday, September 12

Jordan
DST starts Friday, March 26 – DST ends Friday, October 29

Morocco
2009: DST starts Monday, June 1 – DST ends Friday, August 21

No DST in 2010

Pakistan
DST starts Thursday, April 15 – DST ends Thursday, November 1

Syria
DST starts Friday, March 26 – DST ends Friday, October 29

Effects Similar to Time Zone Travels by Air

The one hour time difference, either from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time, or traveling though several time zones makes a difference on your sleep patterns. At least temporarily.

Daylight Savings Time will create an adjustment period, similar to long distance travel (cross country or overseas), as it could take up to one day per time zone traveled. My advice is to try to fight it right away, even if it means a few groggy mornings. It’s really mind over matter.

Effects of Sleep

I already wrote about the Humans’ Natural Circadian Rhythm Disrupted By Daylight Savings Time several years ago.

If you feel 8 hours of sleep makes you a zombie, be sure to read The Best Method to Sleep using your REM cycleand understand why 6, 7.5 or 9 hours of sleep is better.

Or, in my case, how I survive on 6 hours of sleep or sometimes 4.5 hours a night!
Tags:daylight savings time, first day of spring 2010, spring equinox 2010, time change, first day of spring