What is the maximum difference in distance from the earth to the sun in winter compared to summer?

Answer 1

The name for the point in an orbit when it's closest to the center is the perihelion, as opposed to the furthest point which is the aphelion. For Earth, the difference between the two is about five million kilometers (4,999,627 to be exact).

As others have mentioned, most of the difference in the seasons has to to with the axial tilt of the Earth. But there is a seasonal correlation with the orbital position as well. Perihelion occurs around January 3 and aphelion occurs around July 4. This is why summers in the northern hemisphere (which occur near the farthest point of the orbit) are slightly cooler than summers in the southern hemisphere (which occur at the nearest). The distinction isn't vast - those five million miles are only a 3% difference in distance, give or take. But it is a measurable effect.

Answer 2

Winter and summer are due to the Earth axis inclination, not to the distance to the Sun. When in the Northern Hemisphere is summer in the Southern is Winter....

Answer 3

The elliptical orbit of the earth has nothing to do with seasons. Seasons occur because of the tilt of the earth's axis. Thats why, when the Northern hemisphere has winter the southern hemisphere has summer and vice versa