WashU Expert: The global helium shortage hits home

Source - https://www.thoughtco.com/why-do-helium-balloons-deflate-4101553

It's been a decade or more since I first started hearing about a pending helium shortage.

But I didn't notice anything since then.

Sure, Party City posted something about the helium shortage, but I can't remember that last time I bought a helium balloon. I don't care about Party City being able to fill balloon orders or not.

We don't, admittedly have the most reliable helium 'production' system.

Three main sources produce some 75 percent of the world’s helium — sites in Qatar, Wyoming and Texas — > according to gas industry publication Gasworld. In fact the U.S. has for decades provided much of the world’s supply (from cnbc.com)

...and...

A versatile gas, helium is primarily used in electronics and semiconductor manufacturing and is particularly important for medical imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Helium is used as a cooling agent in MRIs and in manufacturing processes. Because helium is stable and does not react with other elements, it is also used in the making of semiconductors to create a contamination-free environment.

Still, the biggest consumer use of the gas is in party supplies — and that area is being hit especially hard by the shortage. (again, cnbc.com)

...

[A]nywhere between 50 and 200 of Party City’s 850 stores don’t have any helium in their tanks at any given time. (again, cnbc.com)

As I write this, Party City has announced the closing of 45 stores nationwide, including the one nearest Princeton High School, but we're going to be out a lot more than party balloons in the scientific realm unless we can either produce more helium (an unlikely outcome based on what I know about noble gases) or use it more efficiently.

Source - https://boingboing.net/2019/05/10/helium-shortage-deflating-part.html

As with so many things, I blame Cleveland.