8 things to consider about year-round daylight saving time in Florida

A bill to let Florida remain on Daylight Saving Time year round is headed to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk after the state Senate approved it 33-2 on Tuesday. 

If Scott signs the “Sunshine Protection Act,” Congress would need to amend existing federal law to allow the change.

Here are a few facts about daylight saving time and ways the change could impact your life:

1. If Florida has permanent daylight saving time, it would be an hour ahead of the rest of the East Coast for much of the year, joining Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the easternmost parts of Canada.

2. There would be no more springing ahead and falling back. That means that when the rest of the eastern states switch to daylight saving time in the spring, their clocks would be in sync with Florida from March to November.

3. There would be sunny evenings, as those dark winter evenings would become a thing of the past. The sunset in Tampa on Dec. 22 would happen at about 6:39 p.m., an hour later than last year’s 5:39 p.m. sunset.

4. Mornings would be darker. The sunrise in Tampa on Dec. 22, 2017 occurred at 7:17 a.m. That would be pushed an hour to 8:17 a.m. if Florida changed time zones.

5. Florida isn’t the only state considering the move. According to boston.com, Massachusetts is pushing for the same.  According to the website, the city of Boston lies so far east, the sun sets between 4:11 p.m. and 4:20 p.m. in the winter, merely 27 minutes later than Anchorage, Alaska.

6. The Monday and Tuesday after daylight saving time in the spring have been associated with a 10 percent increase in heart attacks, according to CNN, citing a study by the University of Alabama Birmingham.

7. As if we didn’t already know, the following Monday, people average about 40 minutes less sleep, according to Christopher Barnes, a researcher at the University of Washington.

8. TV viewing times would be different. Our live TV viewing would be thrown off. Everything from those long Hollywood awards shows to late-night ball games from the West Coast would end even later than they do now.