What determines the distribution of heat and light on Earth?

The sun is about 140 million km from the earth in a straight line. Since the Earth has a shape close to an ellipsoid, the sun’s rays fall at right angles in the equatorial part, thus all the sunlight in these places falls on the Earth. And, accordingly, on the contrary: closer to the poles (farther from the equator) more sun rays “slide off” and pass at an angle, that is, less heat gets in.