Daylight saving time disrupts our circadian rhythms, which disrupts sleep patterns -- perhaps throughout summer. And it causes 10 percent more traffic crashes the week after the time change.

And that's not the half of it.

Total energy costs actually increase. Which means more air pollution and more allergies, illness and asthma. Benjamin Franklin came up with DST in 1784 while in France. Maybe he should have stuck to flying kites.

Adding to the distress, daylight saving time has been pushed forward four weeks to 2 a.m. tomorrow. So let the yawning, mental obfuscation and mass crankiness begin.

Matthew J. Kotchen, a University of California-Santa Barbara economist, presented a study this month that concludes daylight saving time raises rather than lowers energy usage and costs, which was the original intent.

Oh, we get more recreational time in the evening in exchange for turning up the furnace in morning darkness and revving up air conditioning earlier during summer months.

"Our main finding is that -- contrary to the policy's intent -- DST increases residential electricity demand," Dr. Kotchen said of his study presented at the National Bureau of Economic Research conference. "Estimates of the overall increase range from 1 to 4 percent.

"Historically, going back to Benjamin Franklin, the rationale was an energy-saving policy," he said. "We have to question whether that rationale still applies."

His study, which focused on Indiana after it adopted daylight saving time, found that increased energy usage meant more pollution, at a social cost of up to $5.3 million in that state.

So pocketbooks lighten, pollution thickens and eyelids grow heavy.

We push ahead the clock, but not sunrise and sunset, prompting a mild form of jet lag, said Timothy H. Monk, a sleep expert and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

We rise an hour earlier, so we should go to bed an hour earlier. But people can't miss "American Idol," the news and the opening monologue of the late show.

We try adjusting but our biorhythms won't cooperate. The body needs two hours to ramp up melatonin production with hopes of 7 to 9 hours of sleep, but the process is hindered by daylight. And those who get fewer than 7 hours are fooling themselves -- and nature.

"And it's not nice to fool Mother Nature," Dr. Monk said. "We found out that the majority of people who say they need only 5¹/₂ to six hours are kidding themselves."

We get necessary shut-eye by falling asleep on the couch or sleeping 10 hours a night on weekends. Sleep, he said, is "as important as oxygen,"

"If you don't get enough, you won't think straight and all sorts of bad things happen," including lower immune function, fuzzy thinking and even prediabetes, Dr. Monk said.

On Monday, he said, get immediate sunlight in the morning or lots of fluorescent light. In the evening, put on sunglasses so the body thinks it's getting dark earlier. Reduce caffeine and alcohol consumption. Take a hot bath. Relax before hitting the sack.

Actually, he's a fan of daylight saving time.

"Positive impacts outweigh the negative," he said. "We have long evenings of light to recreate, jog, go to the park and play tennis, all of which require daylight."

A study Dr. Monk did 30 years ago in England showed 10 percent more accidents during the week after daylight saving time takes effect. His study also showed that it takes up to a week for one's sleep patterns to adjust.

Next week, expect people to sleep through their alarms. Tired and cranky, they'll speed to work and drive aggressively, which explains the increase in crashes.

A German study published last October in Cell Press concludes that the body's circadian rhythms never adjust to daylight saving time because we follow the sun not the clock.

"The finding suggests that this regular time change, practiced by a quarter of the human population, represents a significant seasonal disruption, raising the possibility that DST may have unintended effects on other aspects of human physiology," the study says.

The research team, which studied 55,000 people in Central Europe, showed that on free days people awaken at dawn rather than at a certain time. Further study showed that people never adjust their activities to daylight saving time in spring -- especially those who stay up late and sleep in.

It concludes that daylight saving time had the virtual effect of transporting the entire German population to Morocco in the spring then back to Germany in the fall.

"Essentially, their biological timing stays on standard, winter time, while they have to adjust their social schedules to the advanced clock time [of DST] throughout the summer," it concluded.

So update your auto insurance policy, find your sunglasses and get an extra-loud alarm clock. And if you're still tired, blame Ben.