The notion of time zone is used to name the different sectors into which the Earth is divided by twenty-four meridians that are separated from each other by an identical distance. In each of these regions the same schedule applies.
On the earth's surface, therefore, it is possible to recognize twenty-four areas created from meridians (imaginary lines). The definition of each current time zone is made in relation to the so-called coordinated universal time or UTC , which is a time standard established from the Greenwich meridian .
The countries crossed by the Greenwich Meridian and those closest to it are governed by the UTC 00:00 time zone . As the planet rotates from west to east, when moving from one time zone to another towards the east, one hour must be added . On the other hand, when moving from one time zone to another located to the west, one hour must be subtracted . The 180° meridian , meanwhile, sets the change of day.
That's why if we are in Paris , the French capital, and we travel to Cape Verde , we must turn the clock back one hour. This is because France is in the UTC 00:00 time zone , while Cape Verde is in the UTC -01:00 time zone . If from France , however, we go to Congo , we will have to go forward one hour (when changing to the UTC +01:00 time zone ). It is important to keep in mind that the time zones can change depending on the time of year.
In other cases the difference between time zones is much greater. When in Argentina it is 2 p.m. , for example , in New Zealand it is 5 a.m. the next day. The explanation is that Argentina 's time zone is UTC -03:00 and New Zealand 's time zone is UTC +12:00 . There is, therefore, a 15-hour difference between one territory and the other.
Understanding the conversion from one time zone to another is not very complicated, but for most people this formula is of no use, since the times of events within the same region always correspond to the local time zone, the that all citizens use to adjust their watches. As if this were not enough, currently all devices are capable of changing the time in spring and autumn to comply with the conditions of the so-called daylight saving time , so that almost no one has to worry about doing it manually anymore.
Regarding daylight saving time , which is also known as daylight saving time , it is a strategy used internationally to save electricity. It consists of moving forward one hour when spring begins and moving back one hour in autumn, so that citizens can take advantage of sunlight more and need to consume less electricity without this affecting their daily obligations.
Since daylight saving time is a convention that not all countries in the world respect, but only a few, international communications are affected with each adjustment . For example: until the day before the change in which one hour is advanced, there may be a five-hour difference between two given countries, while on the following day the number rises to four. If either party does not remember this detail, they may be late for a meeting or even miss an important interview.
As mentioned above, people who do not interact with people from other countries or who do not watch live broadcasts from abroad do not usually pay attention to time zones, while for the rest it may be one of the fundamental aspects of their organization .