For whatever reason, if people are optimistic about the market, the yields are higher long term versus short. (You need to get paid more interest to hold a 10 year bond than 2 years because you assume the rates go up)

The general reason people think rates will go down in the future is if a recession is coming, and the govt will lower them. In this case the rates may high for 2 years, but lower long term. (The 10 year rate is just a weighted average of interim rates)