For parents and other partygoers, it's no gas.
For months, if not years now, we've been facing a helium crisis, as U.S. supplies are running low. The casualties -- children's birthday parties, adult birthday parties, and celebrations of any kind, really -- have now reached a fever pitch as parental go-to Party City announced it will close 45 stores due to the shortage.
Even though helium is a naturally occurring gas, it still needs to be mined. It is produced under in the ground by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. But, to get it ready for commercial use, it needs to be stripped from natural gas processing and liquefied natural gas production, similar to the processing of other fossil fuels.
How'd we get here? For a deep dive into everything you ever wanted to know about helium, we talked to Samuel R.M. Burton, who manages the U.S. Federal Helium Program's Operations Division, for the Bureau of Land Management .
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