2024-03-28 16:40:15
Switzerland aligns with Europe
In Switzerland, as in nearly 70 countries around the world, we practice the ritual of changing the time, which was introduced here in 1981. France had already adopted it in 1976, aiming like the rest of the Europe saves electricity: by switching to summer time, we use more natural light in the morning in summer instead of having to light up in the evening.
In Switzerland, summer time was not introduced to save energy, but to harmonize the time of our country with that of neighboring countries, clarified the Federal Council in 2010. Switzerland had also clearly rejected the concept of summer time during the popular vote of May 28, 1978.
Today, the benefits of the time change are widely contested. The energy gain would be marginal, particularly with the widespread use of low-consumption lighting. Late daylight hours reduce lighting requirements, but this shift also creates energy demand in the morning when it is still dark.
Air conditioning also complicates the calculations: summer time pushes the use of air conditioning in homes in the evening, but would nevertheless save an hour of air conditioning at the end of the day in offices, according to this study by the Laboratory Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute, published in March 2023.
Health impacts
As energy issues have not been resolved, public health arguments now prevail in the debate. Is summer time a source of additional fatigue or, on the contrary, an opportunity to do sports in the evening? Do disruptions in biological rhythm cause sleep, appetite or mood problems?
Difficult to analyze these phenomena which can also find their cause in seasonal changes. Same observation for the suspected increase in heart attacks or road accidents. Contacted on this subject, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) hits the nail on the head and mentions “methodological difficulties” making it simply impossible to measure the impact of the time change.
“The effect of the time change can hardly be isolated, because it is masked by other effects,” summarizes Jürg Niederhauser of the Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS). The simple fact that the spring time change Sunday falls on Easter weekend, whether the weather is very good or very bad on that Sunday, already has significant effects (for example, when it is very beautiful, there are a lot of motorbikes on the road and therefore more accidents, etc.).”
Time change doomed to disappear
In 2019, the European Parliament approved a proposal to remove the time change. Scheduled for 2021, but now awaiting a decision from Parliament, this abolition is therefore postponed indefinitely. “This text on the end of the time change is no longer on the agenda and should not be discussed in the near future,” France confirmed in mid-March.
European states will still have to one day decide whether or not to abolish the time change, but above all choose the time slot which would then be adopted: permanent winter time (‘normal’ time) or daylight time. been permanent. In Switzerland, we wait and hope that neighboring countries will be able to come to an agreement.
On this themeMatthew Rudaz is a designer in the “interactive” team. He pursues visual journalism following studying at the cantonal art school of Lausanne and training in data journalism at Columbia University. He received the Suva Media Prize in 2020 and was nominated for the Swiss Press Award in 2019.More info@rudamatFanny Giroud has been a data journalist since specializing in 2015 at Columbia University in New York. She works within the “interactive” team at Tamedia, handling text and computer data analysis.More info
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