What effect does "particulate matter" have on snow and ice?

What effect does "particulate matter" have on snow and ice?

Terry Tamminen (Author & Environmental Policy Advisor) gives expert video advice on: Is there a correlation between smog and human disease? and more...

Well, particulate matter has a couple of very odd effects or harmful effects. One is that the fine particulate matter, the finest part that's measured in microns of 2.5 microns or larger, gets deep into our lung tissue and actually penetrates the lung tissue and gets into the blood. The fine particulate matter literally thickens the blood the way that flour thickens gravy, and obviously that has terrible consequences on human health. But particulate matter also has the effect, this soot when it goes up into the atmosphere, of trapping greenhouse gasses, and also radiates a certain amount of heat back to Earth, causing a more rapid melting of snow in the mountains or things like glaciers.