Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Azerbaijan will switch to winter time on Oct. 27 at 5:00, the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents reported on Oct.1.

The clock will be set back one hour.

The Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers has applied summer and winter time in Azerbaijan since 1981 in the country. According to the Cabinet decision, dated March 17, 1997, the annual summer time is canceled on the last Sunday of October annually.

An English engineer, William Willett offered setting clock's hands back and forward for the first time in 1880. Later, this regime was introduced in many countries. A number of countries around the world switch to winter time on the last Sunday of October every year.

Switching to winter time gives positive economic effect saving 2 percent of annual electricity usage in more than 110 countries, including Azerbaijan. Furthermore, it impacts positively to ecology, as the amount of waste emitted into the atmosphere reduces following cut in the electricity use.

However, opponents of time switching for two times a year have increased in number lately, which resulted in rejection of this regime in most countries.

Some experts claim that change of clock hands back and forward causes sleep disorder among children and adults, stress, and adversely affects on cardiovascular and immune system.

However, some physicians say adaptation to a new regime is possible in a few days. People can correct daily regime from beginning of rest-day by sleeping half an hour earlier compared to the previous days.