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When a latex balloon is released, it rises to a height of approximately 28,000 feet, with the helium gas expanding as it rises. With temperatures dropping to minus 40 degrees at this altitude, the balloon freezes. As the helium continues to expand in the frozen balloon, the balloon undergoes "brittle fracturing" and ruptures into small slivers which scatter and fall to earth. A small percentage of balloons which are released will experience leaks from defects and will not rise high enough to freeze and burst. The distance they travel and their distribution will be determined by current prevailing winds.
Research indicates that if 10% of the balloons from a 500 balloon release were to fall into this category, the average distribution would be one balloon per 15 square mile area.
Helium is a lighter-than-air gas used to inflate balloons. It exists in small quantities within the earth's atmosphere and is mined from underground pools where it accumulates as a by-product of the earth's production of natural gas. Helium is non-toxic, non-flammable, and has no harmful effects on the earth's environment.
2 comments:
i propose a balloon release ceremony the day George W Bush hands over the White House to the new president.
Are there any environmentally friendly balloons available, i call them green balloons, but would like some that are red, white, blue
For me this is a celebration for George and Laura, Vice President and his wife
David Earley
dlearley@gmail.com
714-898-8853
let me know
Balloon releases are bad for the environment. Whether they're latex or mylar. Check out this brief report from the Marine Conservation Society:
http://www.ukrivers.net/upupandaway.html
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