High school and college do nothing for someone with an IQ over 115. School can't help someone who doesn't want to learn. School can't help someone who does want to learn. Other than that, school is very helpful.
Adapt or die. Who cares if whales go extinct. They will evolve again. Isn't that what happened to the dinosaurs? Oh, wait...evolution seems to be working in reverse. The Gulf Stream could reverse and bring some nice cool weather down to Florida. The problem is, no one can conceive of any advantages to climate change. It's all doom, gloom, and disaster. Happy depression everyone!
It comes down to poor forest management. Don't weed your garden? Don't allow logging to thin out trees? Reap what you sow. Overcrowded disease-prone trees, drought, beetle infestations, piles of deadfall, less wildlife, huge devastating fires with choking smoke, then flash floods, removal of topsoil, silt-filled rivers, lakes, and dams, and landslides. Controlled burns occasionally become uncontrolled burns and just destroy valuable resources. But, no surprise here. You can't expect common sense from academics.