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Brazil Energy Authorities Approve Returning to Daylight Saving Time as Drought Bites 

A man rides a boat in front of the sandbanks at the Solimoes River, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon River, during a Greenpeace flyover to inspect what the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden) says is the most intense and widespread drought Brazil has experienced since records began in 1950, near Tefe, Amazonas state, Brazil September 17, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a boat in front of the sandbanks at the Solimoes River, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon River, during a Greenpeace flyover to inspect what the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden) says is the most intense and widespread drought Brazil has experienced since records began in 1950, near Tefe, Amazonas state, Brazil September 17, 2024. (Reuters)
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Brazil Energy Authorities Approve Returning to Daylight Saving Time as Drought Bites 

A man rides a boat in front of the sandbanks at the Solimoes River, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon River, during a Greenpeace flyover to inspect what the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden) says is the most intense and widespread drought Brazil has experienced since records began in 1950, near Tefe, Amazonas state, Brazil September 17, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a boat in front of the sandbanks at the Solimoes River, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon River, during a Greenpeace flyover to inspect what the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden) says is the most intense and widespread drought Brazil has experienced since records began in 1950, near Tefe, Amazonas state, Brazil September 17, 2024. (Reuters)

Brazilian energy authorities have approved bringing back daylight saving time, a senior official said on Thursday, to save energy as the country faces a major drought that has hit power generation.

Before it goes into effect, reinstating daylight savings time will need to be backed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A prolonged drought in Brazil has affected some of the country's largest hydroelectric plants, including two fed by an Amazonian river, forcing a shift to more energy imports and driving up power bills.

Despite the growth of wind and solar power in Latin America's largest economy, more than half its electricity still comes from harnessing the power of rivers and lakes.

Reservoir levels near major hydroelectric plants in key southeastern and center-west areas are expected to end September at below 50%, as the region's rainfall drops to less than half of normal levels.

By moving clocks forward an hour between November and February, daylight saving time would make use of more daylight hours and ease pressure on peak power consumption in the late afternoon when solar plants stop generating as the sun sets.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro abolished daylight savings in 2019, arguing it was no longer benefiting the power sector.

Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira told reporters on Thursday that national grid operator ONS recommended bringing back daylight savings time and an energy committee representing energy entities approved the potential move.

But the minister also expressed some doubts, saying he wanted to evaluate alternatives, even though earlier this week he appeared to signal his support for bringing back daylight savings time, describing it as "a very pressing reality."

Some sectors cheered the possible switch to the previous policy.

Restaurants back the move, as local association Abrasel estimates the extra hour of daylight would help increase clients from 6-8 p.m. and boost monthly revenue by at least 10%.

Moving clocks forward by one hour, however, would complicate airline flight schedules while incurring additional costs to relocate crews.

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Varieties

'Social Studies' TV Series Takes Intimate Dive into Teens' Smartphone Life

This is the first generation born into a world with widespread social media. LOIC VENANCE / AFP/File
This is the first generation born into a world with widespread social media. LOIC VENANCE / AFP/File
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'Social Studies' TV Series Takes Intimate Dive into Teens' Smartphone Life

This is the first generation born into a world with widespread social media. LOIC VENANCE / AFP/File
This is the first generation born into a world with widespread social media. LOIC VENANCE / AFP/File

Sifting through the smartphones of dozens of US teens who agreed to share their social media content over the course of a year, filmmaker Lauren Greenfield came to a somber observation.
The kids are "very, very conscious of the mostly negative effects" these platforms are having on them -- and yet they just can't quit.
Greenfield's documentary series "Social Studies," premiering on Disney's FX and Hulu on Friday, arrives at a time of proliferating warnings about the dangers of social networks, particularly on young minds.
The show offers a frightening but moving immersion into the online lives of Gen Z youths, AFP said.
Across five roughly hour-long episodes, viewers get a crash course in just how much more difficult those thorny adolescent years have become in a world governed by algorithms.
In particular, the challenges faced by young people between ages 16 and 20 center on the permanent social pressure induced by platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
For example, we meet Sydney, who earns social media "likes" through increasingly revealing outfits; Jonathan, a diligent student who misses out on his top university picks and is immediately confronted with triumphant "stories" of those who were admitted; and Cooper, disturbed by accounts that glorify anorexia.
"I think social media makes a lot of teens feel like shit, but they don't know how to get off it," says Cooper, in the series.
'Like me more'
This is the first generation born into a world with widespread social media.
Via its subjects' personal smartphone accounts, the show offers a rare glimpse into the ways in which that hyper-connected reality has distorted the process of growing up.
We see how young people modify their body shapes with the swipe of a finger before posting photos, the panic that grips a high school due to fake rumors of a shooting.
"It's hard to tell what's been put into your mind, and what you actually like," says one anonymous girl, in a group discussion filmed for the docuseries.
These discussion circles between adolescents punctuate "Social Studies," and reveal the contradictions between the many young people's online personas, and their underlying anxieties.
Speaking candidly in a group, they complain about harassment, the lack of regulation on social media platforms, and the impossible beauty standards hammered home by their smartphones.
"If I see people with a six pack, I'm like: 'I want that.' Because maybe people would like me more," admits an anonymous Latino boy.
'Lost your social life'
The series is not entirely downbeat.
But the overall sense is a generation disoriented by the great digital whirlwind.
There are no psychologists or computer scientists in the series.
"The experts are the kids," Greenfield told a press conference this summer. "It was actually an opportunity to not go in with any preconceptions."
While "Social Studies" does not offer any judgment, its evidence would appear to support many of the recent health warnings surrounding hyper-online young people.
The US surgeon general, the country's top doctor, recently called for warning labels on social media platforms, which he said were incubating a mental health crisis.
And banning smartphones in schools appears to be a rare area of bipartisan consensus in a politically polarized nation.
Republican-led Florida has implemented a ban, and the Democratic governor of California signed a new law curbing phone use in schools on Monday.
"Collective action is the only way," said Greenfield.
Teenagers "all say 'if you're the only one that goes off (social media), you lost your social life.'"