The Earth and Sun are now about five million miles ... - The País.com (Spain)

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The Sun seen by SDO space observatory.

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Earth will today

farther from the Sun than any other day of the year. The astronomical phenomenon-imperceptible to the eye-is called aphelion and always in summer, in early July. This day the distance between the two stars will be of just over 152 million kilometers, about five million since the beginning of the year, when the difference is at its annual minimum.

In a NASA article, two scientists explain that though the Earth is farthest from the sun, does not make it less hot. George Lebo, a professor of Astronomy at the University of Florida, says that in summer the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, so that the sun rises higher in the sky and the days are longer. July is why “it’s so hot.”

Scientist Roy Spencer says that at aphelion, the Earth’s average temperature is about 2.3 degrees Celsius higher than at perihelion name that is called when the sun is closest to the Earth.

The publication explains that the farther the sun is hotter the Earth because the continents and oceans are not uniformly distributed over the globe (no more land in the northern hemisphere and more water in the south), and during the month of July, the northern half is tilted toward the Sun

“The Earth’s temperature (averaged over both hemispheres) is slightly higher in July because the sun is shining fully on all this ground, which makes temperatures rise more easily,” says Spencer.