Final answer:
The uneven heating of Earth's surface is not primarily due to Earth's distance from the sun, which only varies slightly throughout the year and is not significant enough to affect heating. Factors like Earth's axial tilt, ocean currents, and atmospheric pressure are responsible for the uneven heating and create different seasons.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reason Earth's surface heats unevenly is NOT due to D) Earth's distance from the sun. While Earth’s orbit around the Sun is elliptical, causing a slight variation in distance throughout the year, this variation is not significant enough to cause unequal heating. In fact, during the Northern Hemisphere winter, Earth is closest to the Sun, indicating that the distance is not a primary factor in seasonal temperature changes. Instead, Earth's axial tilt plays a crucial role in creating seasons, leading to differential heating. Ocean currents and atmospheric pressure also contribute to uneven heating by distributing heat around the planet.
On the other hand, contrary to common belief, the axial tilt of the Earth is the reason for the changing seasons, rather than the Earth’s proximity to the Sun. As the Earth tilts, each hemisphere experiences more direct sunlight for part of the year, leading to warmer temperatures, and less direct sunlight during other parts, leading to colder temperatures.
The concept that the distance from the sun as the main cause for seasons is further refuted by the fact that when the Northern Hemisphere experiences summer in June, it's actually not the closest to the Sun. If distance were the primary factor affecting surface temperatures, we would not observe the opposite seasons in the two hemispheres.