It's 3% closer than the furthest it gets, so that is a range over the average. So maybe +-1.5% over the whole year.

Can be observed by watching the path of the planets. For instance, Mercury, just yesterday, reached the farthest point in its observable elliptical journey, as we see it from earth looked like it was going backward, and is now returning to its apparent forward motion as it traverses the portion of the ellipse that bring s it a little nearer to the sun.

Gradeschool. I may ave missed it then but my dad was a celestial navigator and he was always pointing out astronomical wonders.

That the speed the earth orbits the Sun changes throughout its journey—faster as it’s closer to the sun and slower as it is farther from the sun?

(And bonus: the area of the arc that is swept (think pie slice) is the same for a given amount of time regardless of where in its orbit the earth is; a “fatter” slice is swept when the earth is closer to the sun since it moves faster, and a “skinnier” slice is swept when the earth is farther from the sun since the earth is moving slower!)

People need to learn the "new" Florida science.