March 2026 - tz - lists.iana.org

An appearance in the New York Times
by Arthur Olson March 9, 2026

March 9, 2026

(Spoiler ahead) The (pay-walled) New York Times "Strands" puzzle for 2026-03-08 includes what folks on this list will recognize as a singular error. https://www.nytimes.com/games/strands @dashdashado

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[PROPOSED] zic: keep needed last transition to new type
by Paul Eggert March 7, 2026

March 7, 2026

* NEWS: Mention this. * zic.c (outzone): Omit an incorrect use of ‘useuntil’. This fixes a bug in 2023-10-15’s “Fix zic bug with Palestine after 2075” (commit 35c116b7536a36c43eb7cd36bff71ad0c5ecf071), which caused zic to mess up if the last transition is to a new time type. This patch does not affect any TZif files generated by current tzdata. This artificial input illustrates the bug: Rule Canada 2007 max - Mar Sun>=8 2:00 1:00 D Rule Canada 2007 max - Nov Sun>=1 2:00 0 S Zone America/Vancouver -8:00 - PST 2026 Mar 9 -8:00 Canada P%sT 2026 Nov 1 02:00 -7:00 - MST Without the fix, zic generates a nonconforming TZif file that omits the last transition even though the trailing TZ string is "MST7". --- NEWS | 7 +++++++ zic.c | 2 +- 2 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS index 267e62da..d7bf5a3c 100644 --- a/NEWS +++ b/NEWS @@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ News for the tz database Unreleased, experimental changes + Briefly: + British Columbia moves to permanent -07 on 2026-03-09. + Changes to future timestamps British Columbia's 2026-03-08 spring forward will be its last @@ -12,6 +15,10 @@ Unreleased, experimental changes a limitation in CLDR v48.1 (2026-01-08). This temporary hack is planned to be removed after CLDR is fixed. + Changes to code + + zic no longer mishandles a last transition to a new time type. + Release 2026a - 2026-03-01 22:59:49 -0800 diff --git a/zic.c b/zic.c index c10be426..225ad419 100644 --- a/zic.c +++ b/zic.c @@ -3522,7 +3522,7 @@ outzone(const struct zone *zpfirst, ptrdiff_t zonecount) startttisut); if (usestart) { addtt(starttime, type); - if (useuntil && nonTZlimtime < starttime) { + if (nonTZlimtime < starttime) { nonTZlimtime = starttime; nonTZlimtype = type; } -- 2.51.0

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[PATCH] Cite recent review of DST and sleep
by Paul Eggert March 6, 2026

March 6, 2026

* tz-link.html (Costs and benefits of time shifts): Also cite Romigi, Franco, Scoditti et al 2025. Clean up some other HTML and wording. --- tz-link.html | 20 +++++++++++++------- 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/tz-link.html b/tz-link.html index f19f9aab..5f1989f0 100644 --- a/tz-link.html +++ b/tz-link.html @@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ community, and data distributors downstream. If your government plans to change its time zone boundaries or daylight saving rules, please send email as described in -"<a href="#changes">Changes to the <code><abbr>tz</abbr></code> database</a>". +“<a href="#changes">Changes to the <code><abbr>tz</abbr></code> database</a>”. Do this well in advance, as this will lessen confusion and will coordinate updates to many cell phones, computers, and other devices around the world. @@ -966,11 +966,17 @@ subtropical regions consume more electricity because of <abbr>DST</abbr>.”</li <li>Neumann P, von Blanckenburg K. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0961463X241310562">What time will it be? A comprehensive literature review on daylight saving time</a>. -Time Soc. 2025-01-21. +Time Soc. 2025;34(4):684–745. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X241310562">10.1177/0961463X241310562</a>. -This reviews DST’s effects on electricity, health, crime, road safety, -and the economy, focusing on research since 2010, and concludes that -year-round standard time is preferable overall. +This reviews <abbr>DST</abbr>’s effects on electricity, health, crime, road +safety, and the economy, focusing on research since 2010, and concludes that +year-round standard time is preferable overall.</li> +<li>Romigi A, Franco V, Scoditti E et al. +The effects of daylight saving time and clock time transitions on sleep and +sleepiness: a systematic review. Sleep Med Rev. 2025;84:102161. doi:<a +href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2025.102161">10.1016/j.smrv.2025.102161</a>. +This reviews <abbr>DST</abbr> and <abbr>DST</abbr> transitions, +and concludes that they both harm sleep, health and behavior.</li> </ul> The following medical societies have taken positions on the @@ -985,7 +991,7 @@ supporting permanent standard time</a> on health grounds.</li> British Sleep Society position statement on Daylight Saving Time in the UK</a>. J Sleep Res. 2025;34(3):e14352. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14352">10.1111/jsr.14352</a>. -This recommends that the UK abolish DST for health reasons.</li> +This recommends that the UK abolish <abbr>DST</abbr> for health reasons.</li> <li>Malow BA. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/45/12/zsac236/6717940">It is time to abolish the clock change and adopt permanent @@ -993,7 +999,7 @@ standard time in the United States: a Sleep Research Society position statement</a>. Sleep. 2022;45(12):zsac236. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac236">10.1093/sleep/zsac236</a>. -After reviewing the scientific literature, the Sleep Research Society +The Sleep Research Society advocates permanent standard time due to its health benefits.</li> <li>Rishi MA, Cheng JY, Strang AR et al. <a href="https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.10898">Permanent standard time -- 2.51.0

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Re: British Columbia
by Davis Carlson March 5, 2026

March 5, 2026

For those interested in the 2019 report that led to the tabling of this legislation, it can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20191103234633/https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/upl… . Interesting that one of the primary tools used to guage public support for permanent DST was a survey run during the *summer *months (June - July 2019). I wonder how the responses might have changed had the survey been run a second time in the winter months. - Davis

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British Columbia is moving permanently to DST on Sunday, March 8, 2026
by WorldTimeZone March 4, 2026

March 4, 2026

British Columbia, Canada is moving permanently to DST on Sunday, March 8, 2026Canadian province is permanently adopting the new clock, officials announced on Monday, ending the twice-a-year ritual of changing every device and clock you own.https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026AG0013-000209https://www.facebook.c… Province of British Columbia is adopting permanent year-round daylight saving time (DST) to improve people’s overall health, reduce disruptions for families, simplify scheduling and provide an extra hour of evening light during the winter months.Alexander Krivenyshev WorldTimeZone.com https://www.worldtimezone.com/index24.php

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British Columbia DST change
by Matt Johnson-Pint March 3, 2026

March 3, 2026

In the news this morning. I haven't yet searched for an official legal notice. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gq3k4590vo

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Gravitational wave detectors affected by DST
by Paul Eggert March 2, 2026

March 2, 2026

An astronomy paper published in January ties daylight saving time to LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which detects cosmic gravitational waves. Here's a citation: Essick R. Can LIGO Detect Daylight Saving Time? ApJ. 2026;997:76. <https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae2255>. The answer to the paper's title is "yes". Gravitational wave detectors, though designed to detect black holes merging billions of light years from here, can also distinguish Earth day from Earth night, weekends from weekdays, and even daylight saving from standard time. This is because their human operators and neighbors generate noise that significantly affects the detectors' sensitivity, and the noise itself can be analyzed to detect human-caused patterns like DST. This has consequences for the conclusions that can be drawn from LIGO surveys. For a readable summary of Essick's results, see: Tomaswick A. Gravitational wave detectors affected by daylight savings time. Universe Today. 2025-09-25. <https://phys.org/news/2025-09-gravitational-detectors-affected-daylight.html>.

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[PROPOSED] The CIA World Factbook is no more
by Paul Eggert March 1, 2026

March 1, 2026

* tz-link.html: The CIA World Factbook sunsetted on 2026-02-04. Downgrade its citation accordingly. --- tz-link.html | 29 +++++++++++------------------ 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-) diff --git a/tz-link.html b/tz-link.html index acc2df58..f19f9aab 100644 --- a/tz-link.html +++ b/tz-link.html @@ -742,31 +742,24 @@ gives current time zone rules for airports served by commercial aviation.</li> <section> <h2 id="maps">Maps</h2> <ul> -<li>The <a -href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/maps/world-regional/">World -and Regional Maps section</a> of The World Factbook, published by the -<a href="https://www.cia.gov">US Central Intelligence -Agency (<abbr -title="Central Intelligence Agency">CIA</abbr>)</a>, contains a time -zone map; the -<a -href="https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world.html">Perry–Castañeda -Library Map Collection</a> -of the University of Texas at Austin has copies of -recent editions. -The pictorial quality is good, -but the maps do not indicate daylight saving time, -and parts of the data are a few years out of date.</li> <li><a href="https://www.worldtimezone.com">World Time Zone Map with current time</a> -has several fancy time zone maps; it covers Russia particularly well. -The maps’ pictorial quality is not quite as good as the <abbr>CIA</abbr>’s -but the maps are more up to date.</li> +has several fancy time zone maps; it covers Russia particularly well.</li> <li><a href="https://blog.poormansmath.net/how-much-is-time-wrong-around-the-world/">How much is time wrong around the world?</a> maps the difference between mean solar and standard time, highlighting areas such as western China where the two differ greatly. It’s a bit out of date, unfortunately.</li> +<li>The +<a +href="https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world.html">Perry–Castañeda +Library Map Collection</a> of the University of Texas at Austin has +copies of old maps taken from <a +href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook">The +World Factbook</a>, formerly published by the +<a href="https://www.cia.gov">US Central Intelligence Agency</a>. +Although the maps’ pictorial quality is good, +the maps do not indicate daylight saving time.</li> </ul> </section> -- 2.51.0

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[PROPOSED] Pacify clang -Wunterminated-string-initialization
by Paul Eggert March 1, 2026

March 1, 2026

* private.h (ATTRIBUTE_NONSTRING): Also define for Clang 21+. --- private.h | 9 ++++++--- 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/private.h b/private.h index 6a58b073..ee191b4e 100644 --- a/private.h +++ b/private.h @@ -539,9 +539,12 @@ typedef unsigned long uintmax_t; # define HAVE___HAS_C_ATTRIBUTE false #endif -#if 8 <= __GNUC__ -# define ATTRIBUTE_NONSTRING __attribute__((__nonstring__)) -#else +#ifdef __has_attribute +# if __has_attribute (nonstring) +# define ATTRIBUTE_NONSTRING __attribute__((__nonstring__)) +# endif +#endif +#ifndef ATTRIBUTE_NONSTRING # define ATTRIBUTE_NONSTRING #endif -- 2.53.0

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