Northerners shouldn't expect any relief from the cold, however. Although sunlight falling on Earth will be slightly more intense today than it is in July, winter will continue unabated. During northern winter the north pole is tilted away from the Sun.
Days are short and that makes it cold.
The fact that we're a little closer to the Sun in January doesn't make much difference. Seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere. When the north pole is tilted away from the Sun, as it is now, the south pole is tilted toward it. As a result, summer is in full swing south of the equator even as northerners are bracing for a long winter. That barely differs from the greatest distance, 152.6 million km in July, which astronomers call aphelion .