Seasons Are Caused by Earth's Distance from the Sun

The belief that seasons are caused by Earth's distance from the Sun is false; Earth is closest to the Sun in January, when the Northern Hemisphere experiences winter, proving distance isn't the driver. This 3.3% annual variation in distance has minimal thermal impact compared to the 23.5-degree axial tilt, which dictates solar angle and daylight duration, causing solar energy per unit area to vary by over 50% between summer and winter at mid-latitudes. Unlike the penny myth's focus on terminal velocity, this error involves astronomical geometry—the Southern Hemisphere's summer coinciding with Earth's perihelion, a fact supported by over a century of precise orbital data, shows axial orientation trumps distance.