Time Zone Confusion?

The other day Don found an interesting BBC News website about time zones. You can find it here. There is an interactive globe where you can see what strange things about time are happening in many countries around the world and the problems in vast countries such as Russia and China that expand across many time zones. The Communists, for example, decided that China would exist in only one time zone.

Other countries, such as Pakistan and Nepal have tailored their countries' time zones so that they are differentiated from India's.

There are other issues around the change to daylight saving time, with some countries opting in and others not. And even within some countries, some areas go with DST while neighbouring areas stay with standard time, creating confusion for inhabitants. Check out Australia and Indiana.

Newfoundland and Saskatchewan are not specifically mentioned, but most Canadians know, thanks to CBC Radio, that NFLD has its own time zone, half an hour ahead of Atlantic time or an hour and a half ahead of Eastern time. Meanwhile, Labrador uses Atlantic time with the exception of certain communities which align their time with Newfoundland. Saskatchewan chooses not to change to daylight time, so is out of sync, time-wise, with the rest of Canada between March and November.

By the way, for those of us who change our clocks twice a year, the dates to remember are the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. Spring ahead and fall back!

Earth Hour tonight: I want to turn off not just lights, but all power sources in our house between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. I want to feel how millions of people experience night-time all the time. I'll think about those in Japan who have lost their homes and their familiar way of life and I will feel grateful for our comforts and convenience here in Canada.