…there’s helium being wasted.

Yellowstone: Helium waster

In a study published yesterday in Nature, US Geological Society researchers determined that 60 tons (that’s more than 11 Million cubic feet) of Helium are released annually from Yellowstone National Park’s steam vents and hot springs. That certainly is a prodigious amount!

Researchers discovered this significantly higher-than-expected amount of helium degassing while studying volcanism in the park. However, there won’t be any Helium extraction since Yellowstone is a National Park after all.

Image courtesy of Ken McGee / U.S. Geological Survey