Helium Shortage Hits Disneyland

You know the helium shortage is getting serious when you hear that Disneyland has stopped selling Mickey Mouse balloons!

A global shortage of helium, the lighter-than-air gas, has put a stop to the sale of inflatable Mickey Mouse heads at Disneyland in Tokyo, threatened parades during the US Thanksgiving holiday and disrupted university research.

Global production of helium -- used in industrial and medical applications, as well as balloons -- has sharply fallen this year in the US and Algeria, the two biggest exporters.

Companies in Japan, the world's leading helium importer, say they are looking to tap alternative, but more expensive, sources of supply in Qatar, Russia and Poland. (FT.com)

In Ireland the situation is that while helium is available it continues to become more expensive. Up to now www.thebigparty.ie and other retailers have refrained from increasing the price to the consumer but it is unlikely that this situation will continue for much longer.

80% of the world’s helium comes from the US. Although helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, most of it in the Earth’s atmosphere bleeds off into space. Helium used for industrial purposes is a byproduct of natural gas production, and the Texas Panhandle is the United States’ helium capital.