(CNN) After three years of decline, climate-change-causing carbon emissions rose sharply in the United States last year, according to new research.

Carbon emissions increased 3.4% in 2018, marking the second-largest annual gain in more than two decades, according to preliminary power generation data analyzed by the Rhodium Group, an independent economic policy research provider.

This follows a Global Carbon Project report in December that said global carbon emissions were estimated to rise by 2.7% for all of 2018.

The new research indicated that US power sector emissions as a whole rose by 1.9% and that the transportation sector "held its title as the largest source of US emissions for the third year running," due to a growth in demand for diesel and jet fuel offsetting a modest decline in gasoline use.

The construction and industry sectors also saw sizable emission increases.

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