Bloomberg: Glaciers supplying water to millions of people worldwide are thawing at record rates, and some could disappear altogether in the coming decades, a United Nations-funded study found. The average rate of melting and thinning of the ice almost tripled in 2006, to 1.4 meters (4.6 feet), from 0.5 meters in 2005, the UN-backed World Glacier Monitoring Service reported. The measurement that scientists use is the amount of water released by the melting glaciers. The thickness of the …