generic If we make daylight saving time permanent, what does that mean for sunrise and sunset times?
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a measure this week to stop switching clocks for daylight saving time once and for all.
If it becomes law, the Sunshine Protection Act would permanently extend daylight saving time from eight months of the year to the full 12 months, and would take effect in 2023. The bill was first introduced in January 2021 and reintroduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and seven other bipartisan members of Congress last March.
The bill still has to go through the U.S. House of Representatives and be signed by President Joe Biden before it becomes law.
Daylight saving time: A century of clock changing could soon run out. How did we get here?
This isn't the first time we've tried to make daylight saving time permanent. In 1973, President Richard Nixon signed a bill that put the U.S. on daylight saving time for two years amid an energy crisis. The law went into effect Jan. 6, 1974.
At first, public approval was mostly positive – at 79% in December 1973 – before falling rapidly to 42% in February 1974 once people realized that the change could mean sunrises at 8 a.m. or later in the middle of winter, and sunrises could be as late as 9:30 a.m. in some areas.
Permanent daylight saving time? America tried it before ... and it didn't go well
The Enquirer wrote several editorials decrying the decision to stay on daylight saving time, including one in Dec. 15, 1973, where doubts were cast as to how the change would benefit the people living in the Cincinnati region.
Because of Cincinnati's geographic location on the western edge of the Eastern time zone, that meant the sun rose almost an hour later in the winter than on the East Coast, and set after 8 p.m. in the summer.
"In the winter, as a consequence, daylight saving time will mean that the dark of night will blanket Cincinnati until after 8 a.m. That means many schoolchildren will be making their way to school in pitch blackness. We fear there will be an increase in accidents," the editorial stated.
So, if daylight saving time is permanently extended, what would that mean for sunrise and sunset times in Ohio? When we typically "fall back" in November and "spring forward" in March, it garners extra daylight hours in the mornings and evenings, respectively.
Without "falling back," we would see winter sunrises close to 8 a.m., but the sun wouldn't go down until around 6:30 p.m.
When are Ohio's sunrise and sunset times?
The sun rose around 7 a.m. toward the beginning of March, shifting to a sunrise of around 7:30-7:40 a.m. once the clocks shifted for daylight saving time March 13. At the vernal equinox Sunday, the sunrise time will be 7:27 a.m., according to Time and Date.
More: When is the first day of spring this year? Here's what to know about the vernal equinox.
Sunsets in March were in the early 6 p.m. range, but will move to nearly 8 p.m. by the end of the month.
In November 2021, Time and Date recorded that the sun rose around 8 a.m. before daylight saving time ended on Nov. 7, then shifted back from early 7 a.m. to around 7:30 a.m. by the end of the month.
November sunset times began around 6 p.m., then shifted back an hour after Nov. 7 to early 5 p.m. and only got earlier, ending the month with a sunset time of 4:47 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What are Ohio's sunrise, sunset times with daylight saving time?
