Moving on Earth in latitude changes position of NCP in your sky, and thus what constellations are visible from your location. For the northern hemisphere, the altitude of the NCP is your latitude. The apparent path of the sun in the sky is the ecliptic . The sun appears to move about 1 degree per day against the background of stars. The ecliptic is inclined 23.5 degrees to the celestial equator.
Lower angle means less heating.
In Austin, we get 10 hr 12 min of daylight. The latitude where the sun never rises on the winter solstice is called the arctic circle . Then days begin to get longer and sun's track across the sky is higher and longer. Longer days means greater heating. In Austin, this is about 14 hr 06 min of daylight.