Who controls the time zone?
Overview. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) oversees the Nation's time zones. The oversight of time zones was assigned to DOT because time standards are important for many modes of transportation. DOT regulations at 49 CFR part 71 contain the official listing of the Nation's time zones.
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.
As Earth rotates on its axis, it moves about 15 degrees every 60 minutes. After 24 hours, it has completed a full rotation of 360 degrees. The scientists used this information to divide the planet into 24 sections or time zones. Each time zone is 15 degrees of longitude wide.
The Earth is loosely divided into 24 regions (time zones) separated by longitude. Not counting local variations, each line of longitude is divided by fifteen degrees; as a general rule and depending upon which way one travels, time moves forward or backward one hour for every fifteen degrees of longitude.
No. The only thing that can control time is gravity, and travel at near light speed. Gravity slows clocks, and time, down.
In the United States, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) in Washington, D.C. is charged with the responsibility for measuring and disseminating time. American time is determined by the USNO Master Clock, which is based on a system of many independently operating caesium atomic clocks and a dozen hydrogen maser clocks.
U.S. Daylight Saving Time
The map shows the six time zones into which the United States is divided. The territory of the 50 US states extends over eight standard time zones, from UTC (GMT) −4 to −11 hours. There are six designated US time zones; and there are four time zones in the contiguous USA.
The Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones are each an hour apart. Since the sun rises in the east, the Eastern time zone is always the latest in the day. So 8 a.m. in the Eastern time zone will be 7 a.m. in the Central time zone, 6 a.m. in the Mountain time zone and 5 a.m. in the Pacific time zone.
With the 2019 Fall release of the National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), a new map of the nation's time zones is featured, showing the geographical boundaries of four time zones in the continental U.S. and the five additional time zones used in Alaska, Hawaii and other U.S. territories.
The federal organization in charge of railroad regulation – the Interstate Commerce Commission – was given the power to address coordination concerns in 1918. That year, five time zones were officially adopted as the US entered World War I: the Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaskan zones still in use today.
Can the government change time zones?
Under Federal law, there are two ways in which an area in the United States can be moved from one time zone to another: By statute: Congress may enact a statute changing the time zone. By regulation: The Secretary of Transportation may issue regulations making changes.
Time zones were created because of Earth's rotation. The sun illuminates the Earth, but only one portion at a time. Since the sun can't rise in every part of the world at once, time zones maintain logical order and regulate day and night across the globe.
"There is no body that can say yes or no," says David Mumford, of Collins Bartholomew, which publishes the Collins and Times atlases for HarperCollins. "The country decides for itself. Then it's just a matter of publicising it, informing the international community and the map-makers."