Earth is closest to the Sun around 3 January, in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere winter, so distance is plainly not what makes the seasons. The culprit is the 23.5-degree axial tilt, which keeps a fixed direction all the way round the orbit. Past 66.5 degrees of latitude lies the country of the midnight sun in summer and the polar night in winter, while on the far side of the equator the Southern Hemisphere runs the opposite season at exactly the same moment.
Earth is closest to the Sun around 3 January, in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere winter, so distance is plainly not what makes the seasons. The culprit is the 23.5-degree axial tilt, which keeps a fixed direction all the way round the orbit. Past 66.5 degrees of latitude lies the country of the midnight sun in summer and the polar night in winter, while on the far side of the equator the Southern Hemisphere runs the opposite season at exactly the same moment.
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