> Selecting only a specific set of events in specific areas is, by definition, cherry picking data. You used the same phrase elsewhere in the thread. I am not

> Selecting only a specific set of events in specific areas is, by definition, cherry picking data. You used the same phrase elsewhere in the thread. I am not sure if we agree on what "cherry picking" really means. There is a difference between isolating relevant variables and cherry picking data. For example, if you wanted to track the long term trend of lion weight in Africa, you wouldn't also include in your dataset the weights of monkeys in South America. That'd just add irrelevant noise because, even though they are measurements of animal weight, they are not what we are studying. It absolutely would not be "cherry picking" to exclude monkeys from your sample. Real cherry picking would be things like excluding particular years of measurements or finding other reasons to exclude data that goes against a trend you are looking for.