What if we didn't 'fall back' when daylight saving time ends?

(NEXSTAR) — The end of daylight saving time is upon us once again, despite efforts by states and Congress to lock the clocks.

Daylight saving time, which we’ve been observing since early March, will officially end at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 3. That means an extra hour of sleep, plus earlier sunrises.

The opposite end of that is, of course, earlier sunsets.

While sleep and health experts largely agree that year-round standard time (the time we’re about to observe) is “undeniably” better for us, many legal efforts are hoping to put us on year-round daylight saving time.

The most notable change you would notice if we observed either is how our days — specifically sunrise and sunset — would look.

Let’s say you live in New York City. On Saturday, November 2, the sun came up at 7:28 a.m. The sunset for the day was at 5:50 p.m. On Sunday, after daylight saving time ends, the sun will rise at 6:29 a.m. and set at 4:49 p.m. If you’re an early riser, that means more daylight in the morning as you commute to work. Your evening commutes will likely be darker, though.

The sun will rise later and later in New York City, hitting 7:20 a.m. in early January before switching earlier. The sun will also set earlier, going down at 4:28 p.m. in early December before gradually moving later. These trends will, of course, continue until daylight saving starts again in March.

Now let’s say we observe daylight saving time year-round and do not set our clocks back in November. The sun would rise much later — the latest being 8:20 a.m. instead of 7:20 a.m. — but the sun would be up much later — the earliest sunset becomes 5:28 p.m. instead of 4:28 p.m.

The table below shows the latest sunrises and earliest sunsets multiple U.S. cities will see while we observe standard time as well as what those times would be if we stayed on daylight saving time all year.

The research — and history — are stacked against permanent daylight saving time, however. The U.S. tried the practice multiple times in the 1900s, only to quickly transition out of it.

So let’s say we observed standard time year-round (which Hawaii and much of Arizona already do).

Our winters would look the same. Our summers, however, would look much different.

Let’s go back to New York City. Currently, while we observe daylight saving time in the summer months, the earliest sunrise of 5:24 a.m. happens in early June. Later that month, the sun sets at its latest point of 8:31 p.m.

If New York began observing permanent standard time, the sun would rise before 4:30 a.m. for part of the summer and set no later than 7:31 p.m.

In some parts of the country, the earliest sunrises would be even closer to 4 a.m. while sunsets would largely fall within the 7 o’clock hour. The table below shows the earliest sunrises and latest sunsets in summer across multiple cities, as well as what those times would be if we observed permanent standard time.

For now, the only thing changing is the clocks. And, unless Congress acts quickly, they will change again on Sunday, March 9.

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