The Earth's climate system constantly tries to maintain a balance between the energy that reaches the Earth from the sun and the energy that goes from Earth back out to space. The heat budget for the Earth is similar to balancing a checkbook.
High latitudes receive small amounts of heat.
As the sun's electromagnetic radiation penetrates the Earth's atmosphere it is selectivly adsorbed and scattered by molecules of gases, liquids, and solids. The high energy X-rays and gamma rays are absorbed by molecules nitrogen and oxygen. In the absorption of ultraviolet radiation, the atom or molecule gives up an electron to become a positvely charged ion. However, not all of the sun's energy comes to Earth. The sun's energy is emitted in all directions, with only a small fraction being in the direction of the Earth.