Why we're short on blood, water and helium

0:01NPR.

0:06This is The Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Adrian Ma. I'm Ricky Mulvey. And I'm Waylon Wong. Shortages are in the news again. And today we're not going to talk about oil or computer chips. That's right. There's a lot of other resources to freak out about. Today we are talking about shortages for helium, water, and even blood. All these supplies are running concerningly low right now. And today on the show, we're going to run down why and what, if anything, can be done about it. All that after the break.

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1:29Visit BetterHelp.com slash reviews. This message comes from NPR sponsor Carvana. Carvana makes car buying easy. 100 % online. Prices down to the penny delivered to your door. Why make car buying hard when it could be easy? Visit Carvana.com today. Terms may apply. Okay, so the shortage that I'm going to talk about is for blood. The American Red Cross has declared a national blood supply crisis, and they say this is only the second time ever that they have done this. The first time was during the pandemic. Is this less supply, more demand? It's kind of both, right? The summer season turns out to be a time where a lot of people are getting hurt because they're out and about, and that is putting a strain on demand.

2:13But it is also a supply problem. There aren't as many people donating, and that's partly because also during the summer, younger people are not in school, which is where they typically give blood. And this year, around this time, there are also environmental factors playing a role, like extreme heat, poor air quality, even foodborne illness, which we talked about. These are all kind of keeping people at home. Honestly, like thinking about extreme heat and poor air quality, that's climate related. And now you think about the knock-on effects from climate change and it's affecting the blood supply.

2:48And I think that's pretty scary sounding. So we called up the Red Cross and spoke with their communications director, Jessica Merrill. And she says in response to this, they've been restricting their distributions of the most commonly transfused type of blood, which is O positive. But this is obviously not a sustainable solution. And she says there's just no good substitute for blood. I think one of the most important things for folks to realize is that one in seven patients entering a hospital will need a blood transfusion. It might be for a trauma patient or someone getting a heart surgery or a mom experiencing birth complications.

3:25So blood is really what we would say is a quiet backbone to modern medicine. And without it, a lot of the care that we take for granted at a hospital is just not possible. So if more folks don't come out and give in the days and weeks ahead, doctors will really face very difficult choices about who receives blood and who has to wait. The good news is that this is actually one of those shortages that you and I can do something about. Any kind of blood, whether it's type A, B, or O, it all helps strengthen the blood supply. When I heard about this story, I was like, oh, I should go and give blood.

4:02And then I remembered that I have no hemoglobin. I have this condition that's related to anemia. Oh, you got to hold on to that hemoglobin for yourself. And I remember that I myself needed a blood transfusion when I was pregnant because they're like, gosh, you have no hemoglobin. And so I'm like, OK, someone else will have to give blood because no one wants my blood. Do you want to seize the conch shell? Yes, I would. I'm going to talk about helium. This is an element that the world has actually been running short of for many years now. And helium, I learned, has many unique characteristics. It can stay liquid at ultra-cold temperatures, which is kind of cool.

4:44And it cannot be manufactured. We get helium by extracting it from natural gas. And it's very, very important in the medical and scientific fields. So it's not just for party balloons and making your voice sound funny. No. And that probably is a lot of people's first association with helium is party balloons. But helium is actually needed to operate MRI machines and cool nuclear reactors. and it's also needed to manufacture semiconductors. So given the AI boom, I'm guessing demand for helium is pretty high right now? It is very high and that is putting the squeeze on supply. And then there's another big reason we're running short of helium.

5:26Qatar is one of only a handful of countries that even supply helium. Okay, so you're basically saying it's the usual suspects for dwindling supply. We got AI on the demand side and the war with Iran on the supply side. Right. So the U.S. Geological Survey says Qatar accounted for 35 percent of global helium production in 2024. And Iranian drone and missile strikes have knocked out that supply. They've knocked out like a third of the helium supply. Uh-huh. And even if Qatar's facilities were up and running, it would still have to ship helium through the Strait of Hormuz. And we know that barely anything is getting through the strait these days.

6:06So can the U.S. make up the shortfall? Certainly not all of it. The U.S. actually used to have an underground helium reserve, which is kind of cool. But the government decided to privatize the stockpile back in the 90s under President Bill Clinton. So the supplies were sold off to industrial gas companies. And given how little helium there is to go around right now, suppliers are giving priority for medical needs and semiconductor manufacturers. And that's why it might be harder to get your party balloons filled. I know I've seen signs at my local dollar store that say that I can't sell balloons right now.

6:40I mean, I guess knowing that helium is needed for like MRIs and nuclear reactors kind of makes the party balloons seem like a lower priority. Yeah, I think we can do without. We just have to remember how to sacrifice. Okay, for the final stop on our parade of scarcity, Ricky Mulvey. Yes, for this joy-filled episode. My resource that we're running out of is water. I feel like we need that. Something that is pretty necessary. As we've talked about before, many parts of the western U.S. are essentially desert, or at least semi-arid. They survive because of a Colorado River Agreement from over a century ago.

7:23Right, we've covered this on the show. This agreement, like, divvied up water between seven states that go from Colorado to California. Yeah. And there wasn't a crisis for a time. Sure, Western states started using more water than was coming in naturally, but two main reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, they had plenty to share. Jack Schmidt is the director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State. It's as if we had a bank account and our bank account was flush with money. Today, though, many parts of the region are facing a serious drought. The western states get a lot of their water from melting snowpack, and for decades, that snowpack has been on the decline.

8:05And yet, growth and overconsumption continued. We said to ourselves, oh, we've had low income, but I'm not going to reduce my spending because my bank account is flush. Now, Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at historically low levels. This is a big deal. Water from these reservoirs is used for drinking, agriculture, and electricity. Now, the federal government is stepping in and asked California, Arizona, and Nevada to make big cuts to their water use. I guess we know from history, states love being told what to do by the federal government when it comes to resources like this. Yeah, the states would like the other states to make those cuts.

8:46California, though, sees these cuts as a milestone but says negotiations are ongoing. Meanwhile, Arizona and Nevada are saying the cuts will be devastating for their states. One bright side, though, is that people in urban and suburban areas have gotten better at water conservation. Large cities like L.A., Denver and Las Vegas have reduced total water use despite growing populations. Oh, that's interesting. OK, so like what are they doing? Some small steps. In Denver, for example, you have to request a glass of water at restaurants. But think watering your lawn less often or getting rid of a lawn altogether.

9:22But in order to get the system into balance, you have to address the cow in the room. Jack says that 70 % of the water used in the basin is for agriculture. In fact, 55 % of all the water used in the entire basin is just used to grow alfalfa and grass as livestock feed. Warmer temperatures, less water, and a debate about equity versus equality. Those are the elements of my running out economic problem, water. All right. These are three crucial shortages that we are keeping an eye on. If you spot something where you are that you think we should be keeping an eye on, please email us, indicator at npr.org.

10:11This episode was produced by Corey Bridges with engineering by Jimmy Keely. It was fact-checked by Sarah Juarez. Kagan Cannon is our editor and the indicators of production of NPR.

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