Melting Arctic ice helps cable project

The quicker transmission time is important in the financial world where milliseconds can count in executing profitable trades and transactions. “Speed is the crux,’’ Ebell said. “You’re cutting the delay from 140 milliseconds to 88 milliseconds.’’

The project, while still facing many significant obstacles, also serves as an example of how warming has altered the Arctic landscape in profound ways.

The loss of summer sea ice prompted the United States to list polar bears as a threatened species in May 2008. Walrus in two of the last three years gathered by the thousands on Alaska’s northwest shore rather than ride pack ice to waters beyond the outer continental shelf.

Summer sea ice melted to its lowest recorded level ever in late 2007, and most climate modelers predict a continued downward spiral. The result is a path through the Northwest Passage.