Helium shortage disrupts celebrations - and even US weather service

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Helium shortage disrupts celebrations – and even US weather service

Supply chain disruptions, including production plant closures and 2017 embargo on Qatar, have caused shortage of rare substance

Maya Yang
Fri 27 May 2022 11.00 BST
Last modified on Fri 27 May 2022 11.01 BST

A global helium shortage has been affecting celebrations with balloons and even the National Weather Service.

Helium is a rare substance produced when uranium decays. Already difficult to mine, there are only a few sources in the world that produce the gas. Currently, the United States is one of the world’s largest helium producers, along with Qatar and Algeria. However, due to supply chain disruptions, including production plant closures and the 2017 embargo on Qatar, the global supply of helium has been severely affected.

In addition to the shortage affecting various instruments and machines that require the gas to function safely, various companies have been struck with negative balloon sales. In a quarterly earnings call on Thursday, Dollar Tree executives said that they are “once again” experiencing a helium shortage which could impact its sales.

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The shortage has also been impacting the National Weather Service, which uses the odorless gas to fill weather balloons. Weather balloons are released twice daily across the country and provide various weather forecasting information.

However, because of the shortage, numerous balloon sites have had to cut back on launches.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/27/global-helium-shortage

[Scrivener7]

1. Dollar tree is having "negative balloon sales." Those balloons are nothing but

more plastic trash, single use, ending up in trees and fields and roofs and ultimately in landfills.

They're pollution. Nothing more.

Other ramifications of the helium shortage may be unfortunate, but reduction of occasion and toy balloons is a benefit.

[Warpy]

2. Weather service can probably go to hydrogen with a few modifications

While unsuitable for human transport (See: Hindenburg), using it for instrument packages up to the edge of the stratosphere would be fine.

However, it would be a bad idea for parties, think about the smokers around hydrogen filled balloons--BOOM.

LCD touch screens are the real canaries in the coal mine. I can see Zoomers having to go back to two handed LED wristwatches before they pass out of life. They worked and they were easier to read, but a pain in the ass when you were strap hanging on the subway.