Human-caused climate change is likely playing a role, researchers said, but is probably not the only factor. Climate models predict a steady rise in sea surface temperatures, but not this quickly, and ocean surface temperatures also fluctuate and can be affected by natural climate variability, including patterns such as El Niño and La Niña.

So scientists don’t yet know precisely why sea surface temperatures have climbed so high.

The article is pretty damn clear that there’s something else going on, and it isn’t only climate change. Your own quote says “with some natural ocean processes that aren’t well understood playing a role, as well”.

My point is not that climate change isn’t playing a big role or the main role here. My point is that there’s something else that’s also going on, and it’s there’s way too many comments saying “it’s climate change lmao”. The entire thesis of the article is that something beyond climate change is also raising temperatures.

I’ll edit my comment to make it clear that climate change is likely the major cause, but I’m not going to delete a comment that’s trying to reinforce what the article is actually saying. As an engineer I consider it part of my job to make it clear what science news is actually saying. I’m no climate scientist, but I would prefer for people to actually listen to what the climate scientists are saying. And they’re saying it isn’t only global warming.