4. which latitudes experience the greatest annual change in daylight hours
Daytime At middle latitudes, far from both the Equator and the poles, variations in the length of daytime are moderate. In the higher middle latitudes where Montreal, Paris and Ushuaia are located, the difference in the length of the day from summer to winter can be very noticeable: the sky may still be lit at 10 pm in summer, but may be dark at 5 pm in winter. In the lower middle latitudes where Southern California, Egypt and South Africa are located, the seasonal difference is smaller, but still results in approximately 4 hours difference in daylight between the winter and summer solstices. The difference becomes less pronounced the closer one gets to the equator. An approximation to the monthly change can be obtained from the rule of 12ths. With 4 hours change over the six months from winter to summer the day lengthens by about 4*1/12 of an hour (20 mins) in the first month, 4*2/12 (40 mins) in the second month, 4*3/12 (1 hr) in the third month, then 1 hr, 40 mins and 20 mins in the fourth, fifth and six months.
Daylight saving time Start and end dates vary with location and year. Since 1996, European Summer Time has been observed from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October; previously the rules were not uniform across the European Union.[39] Starting in 2007, most of the United States and Canada observe DST from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, almost two-thirds of the year.[43] The 2007 U.S. change was part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; previously, from 1987 through 2006, the start and end dates were the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October, and Congress retains the right to go back to the previous dates now that an energy-consumption study has been done.[44] Proponents for permanently retaining November as the month for ending DST point to Halloween as a reason to delay the changeâ€”to provide extra daylight on October 31.