At the weekend the clocks will be changed again in Germany. There is always debate about the abolition of this practice. Mexico is one step further. Daylight saving time has now officially been abolished in the Latin American country.
After years of debate about the purpose of the time change, Mexico has abolished daylight saving time. That was decided by the Senate of the Latin American country. Next Sunday, the clocks in Mexico will be changed to winter time for the last time. In the future, only the “time of God” will apply, said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, alluding to a colloquial term for normal time. Daylight saving time was introduced in Mexico in 1996 to save energy.
As in Germany, there have always been debates in Mexico about the advantages and disadvantages of daylight saving time. The abolition made sense for health reasons, the Senate said. In the past 26 years, there has also been no significant energy saving effect, said Senator Félix Salgado from the governing Morena party.
Winter time will apply again in Germany from next Sunday. The clocks are put back from 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. at night. According to a survey, almost every third person in Germany has had physical or psychological problems after a time change. This is shown by a representative survey commissioned by DAK-Gesundheit. According to the health insurance company, the value determined is the highest in the past ten years and has increased by eight percentage points during this period.
At 40 percent, women suffer almost twice as often from health problems as a result of the time change as men (23 percent). According to the survey, only 20 percent of those surveyed still consider regular time changes to be a good idea. Approval is particularly low in the East.
In the Federal Republic of Germany and almost simultaneously in the GDR, daylight saving time was introduced in 1980 as a reaction to the oil crisis in order to save energy. The aim of the changeover, reintroduced in 1980, is to be able to make better use of daylight. Critics repeatedly question the energy-saving effect. According to the information, a decision by the Council of the European Union would be necessary for a final abolition.