One World, One Time Zone?

Henry and Hanke aren't just dreaming of a new calendar, they also want us to reset our clocks. Today, the world is divided into 24 time zones, but the two scientists aim to scrap those and introduce one universal time zone. The global time is to be determined by ultra-accurate atomic clocks that are synchronised by the fluctuating energy of electrons. The new time will mean that it will be 12 o’clock at the same time in New York and Moscow, although it is daytime in one place and night in the other. The idea of synchronising clocks is to make international trade more streamlined, and planning of events, meetings and more much easier. But this will require a much bigger social revolution than adding a few days to a calendar. With a single timezone, 11 pm in Canberra will become 12 pm. The sun will rise at 7 pm. Except am and pm will no longer be needed and it will just be 1900h. This might be good for trade, but what about travel? A single timezone seems so confusing, it must surely be doomed to fail.