The article looked at how much nature in Hebei Province was used between 1995 and 2004. The researchers used a method called ecological footprint to figure out this information, factoring in things like economic growth and environmental health. They found that during these years, Hebei's use of nature went up and down. Each person's share of nature, on average, shrank from 1995 to 2004. This decrease showed that people were using more nature than could be replenished, making it hard for the environment to stay healthy. However, there was a silver lining – the amount of nature needed for every unit of economic growth shrank, showing that resources were used more efficiently as the economy grew.