As the planet approaches local and global exceedance of the 1.5o C stabilization target, damages from climate change, mostly due to extremes, are growing, far faster than projected. At the same time, assessment models have projected high costs of mitigation, but the cost of energy is dropping faster than projected. Climate policy has assumed that damage costs are manageable while decarbonization is expensive. Both these assumptions are wrong. Damage costs are rising rapidly and green energy costs are dropping quickly. potentially leading to a tipping point in human behavior: scientists need to explore options better aligned with this emerging reality.