Comment by SamBam

Regardless, the net carbon sink of a healthy forest is higher than the net carbon sink of a few houses that were built in its place.

Simply think of the number of tons of wood in an acre of forest, compared with the number of tons of wood in a housing development.

It doesn't matter that some trees die and release their carbon, other trees grow. Instead of thinking of individual trees, simply think of the entire biomass of the forest.