Did you know that most statistics out in the media is deceiving? Most people think they have a pretty good idea about something if they look at charts or numbers. However, most data is skewed or made not be presented in the most accurate way possible. An example of data is correlation. Correlation is a number used to describe a graphical representation of a relationship between two variables. While its purpose is to give a statistical means of showing how two variables could be related, it does not mean that one variable causes another variable to happen. I see it often in classes and other places were people will use the word "cause" to describe a correlation. A scatter plot of the relationship between two variables does not include any underlying variable that may cause the relationship. So it is not technically correct to use the word "cause" when describing correlations.
I've taken statistics classes in high school and here at the U. In all classes, the teacher or professor would be very picky about our word choices when explaining data. It took some time to get used to thinking about data a certain way because usually the way data is presented can be deceiving and made to believe it is one way.
People like the convenience to link one cause to one reaction. However, in some cases this is far from the truth. Like you said there are multiple causes that go under the radar but are never measured.