How does latitude affect the amount of solar energy a location receives on Earth?
Higher latitudes receive less direct sunlight than equatorial latitudes
Because the Earth is a sphere, the Sun's rays strike different latitudes at different angles. Near the equator the rays fall almost vertically for most of the year, so the incoming solar energy is concentrated on a small area of the surface.
Towards higher latitudes the rays strike the surface more and more obliquely. The same beam of sunlight is spread over a larger area and also passes through a thicker layer of atmosphere, where more of it is absorbed, scattered and reflected. So each unit of area receives less energy.
This is why temperatures generally fall from the equator towards the poles. Latitude therefore has a large, not negligible, effect; the equatorial belt receives more direct sunlight, not less; and the amount received is not the same everywhere, since it changes with both latitude and season.
Hence, Higher latitudes receive less direct sunlight than equatorial latitudes.
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