Emerging after World War II “the environment” as a modern concept turned in the years around 1970 into a phase of institutionalization in science, civic society, and politics. Part of this was the foundation of journals. The majority became “environmental specialist journals”, typically based in established disciplines. Some became “environmental generalist journals”, covering broad knowledge areas and often with an ambition to be policy relevant. A significant and early member of the latter category was Ambio, founded 1972. This article presents an overview of the journal’s first 50 years, with a focus on main changes in scientific content, political context, and editorial directions. A key finding is that the journal reflects an increasing pluralization of “the environment” with concepts such as global change, climate change, Earth system science, Anthropocene, resilience, and environmental governance. Another finding is that the journal has also itself influenced developments through publishing work on new concepts and ideas.

二战后出现的“环境”作为一个现代概念在 1970 年左右变成了科学、公民社会和政治的制度化阶段。其中一部分是期刊的基础。大多数成为“环境专业期刊”，通常以既定学科为基础。一些成为“环境通才期刊”，涵盖广泛的知识领域，并且通常具有与政策相关的雄心。后一类的重要早期成员是Ambio, 成立于 1972 年。本文概述了该杂志的前 50 年，重点关注科学内容、政治背景和编辑方向的主要变化。一项重要发现是，该期刊反映了“环境”日益多元化，其中包括全球变化、气候变化、地球系统科学、人类世、复原力和环境治理等概念。另一个发现是，该杂志本身也通过发表关于新概念和想法的工作影响了发展。