Why equate a clever tactic for instant relief for an individual stuck in a potentially fatal heat wave with "the answer to climate change"? Does the inexorable rise in atmospheric CO2 somehow make it unacceptable for a person to seek relief from heat?

It was really a flippant comment on the state of the world today. I think it's still relevant. We are dealing with the affects very well, but not the cause. This is typical of how humans function and worth pointing out if only for gallows/morbid humour.

According to Lancet, extreme cold kills 20x more people than extreme heat every year. As summers get hotter and winters become milder, fewer humans will die on account of extreme temperatures.

Got a link to the source for that ratio? Also, your conclusion definitely doesn't follow from that ratio alone. A simple example:

Before: cold kills 20 people, heat kills 1 person. Cold kills 20x more, for a total of 21 deaths.

After: cold kills 15 people, heat kills 15 people. Cold kills the same number of people as heat, for a total of 30 deaths.

Thanks!

"However, if—as the data seem to show—extreme cold is relatively unimportant, then a few degrees of warming will not yield a large reduction in cold-related mortality. Moreover, if extreme heat is important, then the same few additional degrees might cause a substantial increase in heat-related mortality."

The study warns that global warming won't appreciably reduce deaths due to cold, but might substantially increase deaths due to heat. Again, the current 20-fold factor between deaths due to cold and heat says nothing about future mortality.

At least it's something that can be done.