Will light curve away from the cold and toward the warm or vice versa?

Question

Keep in mind that when light travels from warm air into a region of color air, its path will curve.

Answer 1

Light is bent by in air because of the differences in the index of refraction of the different temperature air pockets. This is what causes stars to "twinkle" at night, and causes mirages to appear in the distance.

Colder air is more dense, and so light will move just a tiny bit more slowly in cold air than in hot air. When a ray of light hits a boundary between the cold and warm air, it will be "bent" towards the colder pocket, in which it moves more slowly.

In the case of a mirage, the hot air is the layer right next to the ground or pavement, with the cooler air above. That's why it looks like you're seeing water in the distance -- what you are really seeing is the refracted image of the sky.