A recent survey of the students and faculty at Harvard University revealed that most people with some science background believe that our seasonal climate changes are caused by variations in our distance from the Sun.
The Earth's rotation axis maintains a fixed direction as the Earth revolves around the Sun in its orbit. As a result, the Northern Hemisphere is alternately tipped toward the Sun and away from the Sun. At the extremes, known as the solstices, the altitude angle of the Sun at local noon time is either at its highest or lowest.
Notice the stick figure people in the drawing. The person on the "top of the world" is standing on what is known as the Arctic Circle. That latitude circle is defined by the fact that at or near the Summer Solstice (on or about June 21), the Sun never sets in 24 hours; and at or near the Winter Solstice (on or about December 21) the Sun never rises in 24 hours. The person with his body pointing right (toward the Sun) in the June 21 side of the drawing is standing on the Tropic of Cancer. That latitude circle is defined by the fact that at or near the Summer Solstice, the Sun is directly overhead at local noon time. Likewise, the person with his body pointing left (toward the Sun) in the December 21 side of the drawing is standing on the Tropic of Capricorn, and people living there see the Sun directly overhead at local noon time on or near that date. The Antarctic Circle is also shown in the drawing; people living there have perpetual 24 hours of daylight on December 21 and darkness on June 21 (opposite of the situation for the Arctic Circle).
The Earth's surface can be divided up into five climatic "zones": the Tropical Zone, which lies between the two Tropics (Cancer and Capricorn); the Northern and Southern Temperate Zones, which lie between each Tropic and the Arctic/Antarctic Circles; and the two Polar Zones which are at the top and bottom. Only in the two Temperate Zones do you find significant seasonal variations in the Sun's noontime altitude angle, which explains why the seasons of summer and winter have such extreme variation in temperature in those areas. This also explains why our latitude region has some of the most interesting, and most violent, weather on the planet: we live in what can be described as the "battle zone" between warm and cold air masses, which migrate across our region as the seasons change.
If all else stays the same, your noontime distance from the Sun is slightly less when your hemisphere is tipped toward the Sun-- which might explain some of the Harvard survey responses. However, it is a fact that the Earth's orbit is not circular; and the whole planet is actually closest to the Sun in January and farthest from the Sun in July. The orbital distance variation is much more significant than the Earth tilt variation, so distance from the Sun is clearly not the cause of our seasonal climate changes.